


It's Not Complete Yet

by soft_bucky



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, And Harry's 19, Angst, Bottom Louis, Cause Louis is 14-15, Chaptered, Eventual Smut, Fluff, High School AU, M/M, Mpreg, Pregnant Louis, This is not planned at all, Top Harry, Underage - Freeform, larry stylinson - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-02
Updated: 2016-02-06
Packaged: 2017-12-22 04:26:02
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 22
Words: 24,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/908902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soft_bucky/pseuds/soft_bucky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis is running late one morning. A growing boy can't go to school on an empty stomach. So he goes to the bakery close by to grab something to eat on his way to school. But there's this tall, attractive man that Louis distinguishes by his bright green eyes. He realizes soon that he possesses a crush but doesn't act on it because the man he learns is Harry is a few year older and wouldn't want someone as young as him. But Harry does want him. He wants him a lot.<br/> </p><p>  <a href="http://ficbook.net/readfic/1738912">~Russian Translation~</a></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PuzzlingApproach](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PuzzlingApproach/gifts).



> A/N: Title from Ed Sheeran's Little Bird. I like to think that the title is like their story isn't complete and whatever else. For this prompt.  
> http://bottomlouisprompts.tumblr.com/post/57109514922/prompt-louis-is-14-one-day-before-school-started  
> This won't be longer than 15 ch.'s if I'm lucky. Idk. We'll see where this goes.

Louis wakes up to a silent house on a Wednesday morning. The sunlight is thankfully not coming into his room very brightly due to the fact that it is almost always raining in England. (Which it happens to be doing at the moment.) The boy groggily wipes the dry sleep from the edges of his eyes as he wonders why it was so silent in his home. Usually his sisters were awake and running around, talking at the top of their lungs by the time his alarm went off.

Louis looks to the right where his nightstand is and squints at the black alarm clock on said nightstand. When he realizes the time that blinks back at him in red digital numbers, his blue eyes widen is shock and he kicks the covers off of his legs and quickly clambers out of his warm comfortable bed to stand on the carpeted floor.

He pulls out a couple items of clothing from his closet; just barely managing to look presentable with the white t-shirt, dark blue jeans, and white Toms that he hastily throws on. He definitely doesn't have time to do anything with his hair, so he haphazardly puts on a grey beanie to cover up the messy bed head. Once fully clothed, the fourteen year old brushes his teeth as he stomps down the stairs to put on a grey cartigan before spitting in the sink with one arm in a sleeve. 

Louis makes it out of the house with enough time to grab a bite to eat before school starts. He really can't focus in class if he doesn't have something in his stomach before ten am. Lunch is at one thirty for him and that just won't do. There is a bakery that he hasn't been inside yet that is a block away from his house which was a block away from the school. This is why Louis loved living so close to the school. Because on late days like this where he pushes the off button on his alarm in his sleep, he still won't be too late.

Finally, he reaches the warmth of the bakery and he relishes in the warmth. It was only late August and was chilly today. But still warmer than what the temperature would be for England in winter. There were no other customers in the bakery. There were five- no six small round tables made for one or two people scattered around the large room with black metal open backed chairs set up at each one. The metal in the back of the chair was twisted to be in the shape of a heart. The bakery smelled like sweets and black coffee. Louis could assume it was due to the fact that something was most likely baking in the kitchen and the large clear display case of treats where the cash register is. Even though the sign reads open in the window, Louis doesn't see anyone who works here in the store. He is about to walk out into the rain once more to get to school when a voice speaks up.

"Hello? Do you want to buy something?" Louis turns around to see who the deep, melodious voice belongs to and there is a tall man behind the counter looking at Louis with a quirky smile.

He is wearing a light brown thin sweatshirt with a white apron tied around his waist, black skinny jeans, and a grey beanie that covers most of what Louis can tell are brown curls minus the fringe styled to the right of his forehead. Louis accidentally stares at him for a moment too long (especially those bright green eyes) because man behind counter as Louis will refer to him as until he knows his name says "Um, do you want something?"

There is a little dent inbetween his eyebrows from where they drew closer to each other in confusion.

"Oh yeah. Sorry. Can I have a croissant with the chocolate on top?" Louis orders, ignoring the pink flush that creeps into his cheeks.

"Sure thing." Man behind counter bends down to grab a chocolate croissant from the display case with a translucent paper sheet.

He places the baked good into a white paper bag and rings up the purchase.

"That'll be 4.56."  _Tall_ man behind counter smiles kindly at Louis as the younger boy digs in his slightly wet pockets for his money. After a minute of fumbling, he removes his hands from his jean's pockets and looks up, biting his bottom lip with a slight frown.

"It turns out that I don't have money with me. I thought I grabbed it but I didn't and now I'm gonna be really late for school and you can put the croissant back. Sorry." Louis stammers before turning on his heel, prepared to walk out and rush to school.

"Wait. Here." Louis turns around and the bag with the croissant is gripped in Man behind counter's hand which is thrust outwards towards Louis.

"But I don't have money?"

"'S on the house. A secret between you and me yeah?" Man behind counter offers, still smiling; pink full lips pulled back to expose his straight white teeth and dimples that are indented into each of his cheeks.

"Sure. Er thanks." Louis says gratefully as he walks back to take the bag.

"No problem. Come back some time. I'm Harry."  _Harry_ calls out to Louis who is by the front door.

"I'm Louis." Louis responds before he walks back out into the cool brisk air and light sprinkling of rain.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was it? I know it starts off boring but it's prologue/ch. 1 which is almost never exciting. Comment? More to come! :)


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decided to gift this to my friend, beta, person Karlei (Puzzling Approach) cause she's nice and betas me sometimes and helps me flush out ideas quite often. A lot of the future of this story was pushed out by her so you should also check her out. :)

After that first meeting with Harry in the bakery on that rainy Wednesday morning two and a half weeks ago, Louis ends up deciding to stop by the bakery at least twice- okay, maybe more than twice a week. And it wasn't because Harry said that he should come back. Definitely not. He is probably required by his boss to say that to every customer that purchases something. Although technically Louis didn't buy the croissant.

He tells himself that he visits so often because it's because of the freshly baked, delicious tasting treats in the display case, the cute chairs, and the ambiance of the quaint shop and not because of the tall, lanky, curly haired man with the enticing green eyes and dimples that usually works behind the counter. Lately, the boy has been stopping by in the mornings to get a bite of breakfast really quick before school and in the afternoons to talk to Harry for a short while before heading back home.

As he walks the block from his high school to the bakery, Louis ends up taking off his jacket and drapes it over his head to protect him from the sun and its sweltering heat. It is for this precise reason that he can not wait until winter. It's cold and contains almost all things good. But for now, he has to settle on getting a cold drink and hopefully a free cookie from Harry. Who has been letting him not pay for his food since day one.

As soon as the front door comes into his view, Louis sighs in relief. Once his jacket is pulled off of his head and no longer obstructing his view, he sees Harry behind the counter like ususal; this time wearing all black with his white apron tied securely around his waist. But his attention doesn't even slip towards Louis. Instead, he is talking to a beautiful woman with auburn hair and startling blue eyes. Louis notices when he sits at the small table closest to the register. From this seat and view point, he can hear each word of their conversation- which seems more half hearted on Harry's side and the small touches like her hand on his bicep for a few seconds before pulling off with a gentle squeeze or the doe eyed look she offers.

All of the obvious flirting on her part stirs something in the pits of Louis' stomach that feels oddly similar to jealousy. He doesn't need to feel jealousy though since Harry is simply a friend of his, a friend that is older and in university and very attractive and talks to Louis in his spare time for some reason. It would only suit him that he might have interest in a girl as pretty as that. But when the woman leaves with a white paper bag of her baked goods for her room mate- Louis couldn't help but eavesdrop, after Harry simply asks her if she is going to order something, a smile places its self onto his lips.

This happens to be the second slow hour of the day, so Harry unties his apron and sits at the table with Louis after bringing him his order of cold lemonade and a chocolate chip cooke that was still warm from the oven.

There is a pregnant moment of silence before Louis decides to say something since Harry is simply sitting there across from him fiddling with his hands.

"She was flirting with you." Louis says, stating the obvious as he breaks off a piece of the cookie before popping it into his mouth.

"Yeah. So?"

"Why'd you turn her down? She's pretty and around your age."

Harry is snickering right across from him with a wide grin contorting his expression into one of enjoyment. Louis doesn't see what is so funny about the situation when it's just a simple, normal question asked out of curiosity.

"Louis. I'm gay. That's whay I turned her down." Harry is still chuckling and Louis is blushing a red color that shows up prominently on his cheeks.

"Oh um sorry?"

"That I'm gay?" Harry asks him.

"No. I'm not sorry that you're gay. Not that I would be in a 'oh, sorry he's gay' kind of way. But like, I mean like sorry for asking about it. Cause you know, it's like asking a woman her age or asking if a woman is pregnant; which my mum has told me not to do numerous times. But I mean... I'm rambling. Feel free to stop me anytime." The red color on his cheeks turns an even darker red and the fourteen year old looks down at the table top to hide his embarrassment.

Harry waits to stop his silent laughter to poke Louis' arm to get him to look up.

"You can ramble all you want around me. It's kinda amusing. And besides, I kind of have my eye on someone so she would have been shot down anyway." Harry is offering him a soft smile which makes Louis blush in a way that is different from the one that crept into his cheeks durning his rambling session.

Thankfully, they stray away from that conversation and talking is much easier for Louis now that they've got the awkwardness out of the way. Soon, it's around the time that his mum will be expecting him home. Louis says goodbye to Harry and grabs his jacket from behind his chair before starting his walk back home. He always has time to think on his walks and this time is no different.

He is the kind of person who doesn't do anything or say anything until they are absolutely sure about it. After he became interested in football and watched it whenever a game was on the telly, he absently thought that he wanted to play. But that absentminded thought turned into something he actually wanted to do. Which led him to trying out and getting on the school football team.

When he didn't find himself interested in girls by the age of thirteen, he didn't admit anything to himself until he watched a porn with two guys in it and got hard and watched one with a man and a woman in it that got rid of the boner.

As he thinks about the short bout of jealousy at the bakery and the fact that Harry makes him blush and the fact that he thinks about the older boy quite a lot, he decides to admit to himself that he has a crush on Harry.

But that is completely fine with him because he just won't tell him. After all, Harry likes someone anyway and would never want someone as young as him. As long as he can hopefully get his crush to fade then everything will be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I thought this was not very good and I'm not sure if it read well since I didn't read this over at all and I feel a little incoherrent because it is 4 am. The chapters _will_ get longer once things kick in. Thanks for reading!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So you have this load of crap filler chapter as an update. Sorry.

School is a dreadful place for Louis. It's full of people who care about status and social hierarchy. Everyone belongs to a clique and has their loyalty pledged to a group or club or circle of like minded people.

And Louis doesn't belong in any clique. Apparently he isn't very likable. Everyone knows that he's gay and for some reason, that's a large part as to why they don't like him. He comes off as too quiet at some times and too talkative and annoying at others. He doesn't belong in any group other than football, and even the other boys on the team don't like him. He barely gets the ball passed to him despite the fact that he isn't too terrible at the sport. Anything they do is to spite him. But he know that if he were to go to the coach about it, that would just get him in more trouble with his team mates.

So he keeps his mouth shut and doesn't tell anyone but Zayn and Liam. They are the only two friends he has and has consistantly had in his life. He doesn't really mind that aspect in his life because as long as he has them, he's fine.

Usually he doesn't miss his alarm, so thankfully, he actually has enough time to get ready in the morning. Unfortunately, his mum drives him to school that day which means he won't get to see Harry in the morning and will have to wait until tomorrow to see him since football has started now that it's September.

Unfortunately, his mum decides to try and strengthen their relationship by talking to him on the way to school about his life, how things are going in school and soccer, and if he has any crushes; something he does not want to talk to her about. So he mutters some half hearted responses while fiddling with the dial on the radio and looking out the window of the car. Finally, the car rolls to a smooth stop in the front of the school and Louis internally sighs in relief.

He quickly exclaims bye to his mother and slams the door behind him. The boy jogs up the steps and starts weaving his way through the crowd of students that are crowding the hallway to walk upstairs to his locker on the second floor. Almost as soon as he opens the red metal door, he senses another person's presence. When he turns to the left, he sees Zayn leaning cooly against the locker next to Louis'. A smile tugs his lips up at the corners when Louis smiles softly at him before going back to the task at hand.

"Hey, you wanna catch a movie later with me and Li?" Zayn asks casually as Louis slams the door to his locker shut and straightens out from his previous crouching position.

"Can't. Have footie practice, remember?"

The pair mix in with the gaggle of kids going to their first period classes as they all trudge down the halls.

"True. I forgot it started already. How's it going?" Zayn asks just as someone pushes between them which sends Zayn's shoulder into some girl's rather large backpack.

He grits his teeth together, trying to keep his temper down as Louis formulates a response to his question.

"Uh, the usual." Louis simply says, deciding not to say anymore on the subject.

Zayn, being the good friend he is decides not to push it. Instead he tells Louis goodbye, gives him a hug, and heads off to his own first period just fast enough to be late.

~o~

As soon as Louis walks through the front door of his house after football practice from which his dad picked him up, he can hear the excited chatter of his of his two youngest sisters who are only four. And then when he walks further into the house, he can see his mum tryng to get them to settle down. Dinner is on the stove and the smell of something savory that he can't quite put his finger on is wafting throughout the house. The door bangs shut behind his dad when he locks it and the keys jingle as they are hung on the key hook.

Louis is about to tiptoe up the stairs to his room to hang out for a bit and shower when his mum asks him to go out looking the way he is, all sweaty, smelly, and disheveled.

"Louis, can you go pick up something from the bakery around the corner?" His mother decides to ask him.

"Uh, do I really have to?" Louis doesn't really want to go for the risk of Harry being there and seeing him like this.

"Yes. It's not that far from here. I'll give you some money to buy it." His mum is looking at him tiredly and he can't say no to her, so he agrees.

She places a few bills in his hand when he approaches and he walks back out the door yet again that night. Now that he isn't so hot from practice, he can feel the slight September chill in the air and rubs his hands along his arms for friction and warmth. Thankfully if he doesn't think about anything but walking and paying for the desert he is goign to buy, the walk passes by much faster. So when he opens the door to the bakery, it seem like it took no time at all.

Louis decides that he is not going to put his faith in luck any longer because of course Harry was on duty. His attenion was on a rather large textbook placed on the countertop in front of him and his hair is slicked back out of his face so it wouldn't get in the way of him reading. When the bell alerts him of a customer, he puts a neon pink sticky note on the page he was reading along with the many others Louis sees sticking out of the book's edges and gently closes it.

The older man is ready to do the typical greeting of a customer but instead smiles when he sees Louis this late at night.

"Hey Lou. What can I get you?" Harry asks cheerfully as Louis approaches the counter.

"Do you have any chocolate cake? My mum wants me to get one."

"Actually, there's one that'll be done cooling in fifteen or so minutes if you want to wait." Harry informs Louis who nods as an answer.

To pass the time, they start talking about general things once more and the subject of football is brought up. Louis tells Harry that he actually is on the school's team. Harry immediately perks up a bit more and talks about how he was on his school's team too, minus the fact that he was rubbish at the sport.

"I'd say that I'm bad at it myself."

"Nonsense. I bet that you're good. Great even." Harry grins.

Louis starts to say that he really isn't, but Harry cuts him off saying "I'll come to a game of yours sometime to prove to you that you are, in fact good at this like I think you are."

"I-uh, really?" Louis stammers, habitually running a hand through his out of place hair.

"Sure. In fact, give me your number and I'll text you when I'm at your next game- which is?" Harry pauses to ask Louis as he grabs a pen from the sparsely filled cup deginated for holding writing utensils.

"It's on Saturday night." Louis whisper shouts to Harry who is retrieving the cake as he writes down his cell phone number on a bright green sticky note.

"Okay. I'll text you. And the cake's £7.84 by the way." The bag Harry places the bag in crinkles with every movement Louis makes when it is in his grasp.

Harry's words "See you on Saturday!" still ring in his head as he leaves.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'll try to have this updated once every week to two weeks. But I write when I get inspiration so I can't promise anything. On another note, I have some exciting things planed for the future of this story. :))


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's 11:30 and I worked on this slowly for a couple hours. So it's un edited. Sorry for any bad flow, etc.

Louis was nervous. Much more nervous than he would usually be at one of his games. Just as he was walking over to Zayn to hand over his phone while he was playing, he got a text message from Harry saying 'I'm here. Good luck! Not that you'll need it. X."

It's not that he was nervous about seeing Harry, it was more about Harry seeing him running around extremely sweaty on the field. Louis doesn't even know why he agreed to Harry coming to this game. He was bad at the sport, didn't get the ball passed to him as often as it should, and doesn't look good after running for an hour and a half. (It's not like anyone does, but that's not the point.) The point is, Harry is going to see him looking his worst. Even though he just decided to admit to himself that he has a crush on the older man not even two weeks ago, he still wants to look good around him.

"So, who's Harry?" Zayn asks Louis as he stuffs the phone in his front pocket after catching a glimpse of the screen.

"Um, he's just a friend of mine." Louis says offhandedly. Zayn accompanies him up to the field before wishing him a good game and takes his seat in the bleachers next to Liam, five seats up from his parents; which were sitting right behind Harry Louis notices. Louis can feel the soft ground mold beneath his cleats from the earlier rain and takes confident strides to his teammates who have formed an odd blob like shape facing the opposing team.

He knows that he isn't welcome to chat with them since none of them like him, so he kicks at the green clumps of grass with the toe of his right shoe until everyone is given the signal to get into formation. Louis keeps his focus on the blue and black uniforms of the opposing team in front of him. When the referee makes the shrill sound of his whistle blowing and the ball begins its movement, Louis takes off running along with everyone else.

-

"God. Can't you do anything other than fuck things up?" Max whispers harshly down at Louis before dribbling the ball away from his body that lay crumpled on the damp ground. The only person that comes to check up on Louis after a second is the ref who pulls him up. As Louis limps back over to his team, he could feel a dull throbbing in his ankle with every step that he took. But he didn't want to seem weak to anyone on his team and especially to Harry, so he manages to push it off and continue playing.

~o~

"Louis you were great!" Harry says cheerfully as soon as Louis walks over.

Louis scoffs. "You thought so?"

"Yeah, that pass was amazing! I told you you were good!" Harry grins as he leans down to hug Louis despite the fact that he is shiny with sweat.

Someone clears their throat and Harry quickly pulls away from his hug with Louis. Louis almost wants to pull him in tighter to hold on to that close contact for a bit longer. But instead he lets go and talks to his mum and dad as they congratulate him on a job well done. (Louis doesn't think he did that great but apparently he did). Louis noticed the disapproving glances his mother sent Harry from time to time but she never questioned it. Instead she decided to question Louis about his ankle.

"Oh, it hurts a little"- a lot "but I don't think it's too bad." Louis says.

"You've been limping ever since you were knocked down by that boy; something I think I need to bring up to the school-"

"No don't do that." Louis interrupts. She doesn't pay him attention.

"And you need to get it checked out. We're going to the hospital. That's final." She argues.

Louis' dad doesn't say anything really; just sort of silently agrees. So Louis says bye to Zayn and Liam, hugs Harry goodbye- he relishes in his warmth and scent and strong arms while he can), and accompanies his parents to the hospital.

~o~

Later that night when he's in bed with his new orange cast on his leg, his phone vibrates on his nightstand. He thinks it's another text from Zayn or Liam, but instead it's from Harry.

_"Sorry I didn't text you back earlier. Heard you got cast on leg :(. Hope u feel betr! Xx."_ Louis can't help as a grin involuntarily crosses his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ugh, I want to get to the good parts. That's when I can actually get ideas to write. But exposition is a necessary and sucky thing.
> 
> If you want to see me fangirl over Louis or things or possibly get info on updates/possible fics I won't publish here, you can find me at [tumblr.](http://www.louis-tomlinstagram.tumblr.com)


	5. Chapter 5

On Monday when Louis is at school once more, things are pretty normal. Other than the bright orange cast on his leg and the fact that all of a sudden, his friends have taken a large interest in Harry.

"Wait. Harry was the one with all the tattoos?" Liam says in shock once Zayn fills him in.

Louis nods his head. The collection of tattoos he had on his body that Louis had seen was quite massive.

"He was the hot one?"

Louis frowns slightly because yeah he was hot, but only Louis could think that. Zayn is holding a slight grimace similar to Louis' own because who said Harry was that attractive? Zayn mentally scoffs. He's seen better.

Louis notices his expression and offers him a soft smile because he knows how Zayn feels.

Louis answers Liam's question. "Yeah. But I'm the one with the crush on him." He teases.

"Oh no! I don't have a crush on him or anything. I just mean he's hot. Like- jeez." Liam stammers.

Louis decides he should lighten up on him a bit. "I was only kidding mate. I know you don't like him."

Despite the fact that Liam thinks that Harry is oh so hot, he doesn't really display interest in guys. He says that he's possibly bi-curious but he's only ever dated girls and pretty much talks about them most often. So Louis wasn't really bothered by the comment.  That much.

The trio begin to talk about their grades since intererms are coming out in a week or so around October 15th. Louis brings up his chemistry grade; a c+ brought up from a c- thank you very much which reminds Liam about his own grade in science.

"Hey I forgot I have to make up a quiz in bio because I didn't get a good grade on it last time. Do you think 20 minutes is enough time to finish 25 questions and get a good grade?" Liam says  hurriedly.

Louis nods his head yes since Zayn doesn't seem to want to do much talking and Liam quickly walks out f the cafeteria to go to his classroom. As soon as he's gone, Zayn lifts his head from his resting place in his arms.

"Dude, tell him." Louis says almost immediately.

"No."

"I hate looking into the sad depths of your brown eyes when you hear him talking about someone cute or in this case, hot girl/guy. It really can't be that big of a deal if you simply told him you like him." Louis presses.

"Then tell Harry you like him." Zayn responds as he stabs his white  Styrofoam  tray with his fork that was stained red with spaghetti sauce.

"It's not that easy. He's older and Liam's our age." Louis refutes.

Zayn gets up to throw his trash away along with Louis' before sitting back down in his plastic blue chair.

"It's not that easy for me either. I've had a crush on him for like-" Zayn thinks in his head for a brief moment before continuing. "two, going on three years now. He's only liked girls so far so why would he like me? We've been friends since we were like eight. I'm not going to risk our friendship just to get my feelings out and that's it." The tone to his voice implies that the discussion is over so Louis decides to let it end. For now.

~o~

"What do you mean you can't pick me up?" Louis says into his phone to his mum.

"You're on your way to the hospital? Why?"

"She broke her wrist at school? Then can dad pick me up?" Students are walking past him as if he wasn't there. He was just another unimportant person to them.

"I know when he gets off of work but that's like two and a half hours from now. And I don't know when you'll be able to get me." He huffs  frustratingly . Leave it to one of his little sisters to break something almost right after he does so himself.

"Fine. I'll wait here. Bye." Louis hangs up on her when the conversation ends and sits down on a bench at the front of the school near the sidewalk. His phone is a slide out phone circa 2009 and his mum still hasn't upgraded it to a smart phone, so he can't play any fun games on it. Instead he pulls out his I-pod  nano ; a hand me down from 2010 to listen to music, only to find out that it's dead. As a last resort and with nothing to do, Louis pulls a page of homework; for English he discovers and gets to work.

~o~

It's four o' clock, an hour has passed, and his mum texted Louis to say that it might end up taking a little longer than expected and that Mark might end up picking him up. Just as Louis gets a head start on homework that's not due for two days, he hears someone honk their horn repeatedly. The squeaky  squawk-like  noise sounds like it's coming from close by, so Louis lifts his head and of course it's Harry.

The older man rolls down the window on the passenger's side and calls out "You need a ride?"

Louis most definitely does.

-

"Why were you sitting out there doing school work?" Harry asks Louis once they start off in the direction of Louis' house.

"Scheduling problems I guess you could say. How'd you know I was here?"

"I was going to the gym and saw you." Harry answers, turning a corner.

Louis didn't notice before but now turns his head to the side to take a look at Harry. He was dressed in a well fitting white t-shirt, a weird bandanna tied around his head, loose shorts, and sneakers such a bright yellow, they almost burned out Louis' retinas (figuratively of course).

Harry caught him looking and winked. "Are you checking me out?"

Louis' mind is telling him to play it cool, but he body betrays him by turning his cheeks scarlet red. He couldn't help but look at the way his biceps bulged each time he gripped the steering wheel or when he made a turn, or the numerous black tattoos permanently inked into his skin, or his soft rose colored lips that were slightly shiny and swollen that he had a habit of biting; Louis only noticed because Harry had bitten them multiple times in the car already.

"Um no. I-I'm not." Louis stutters.

Harry laughs and continues making conversation with  Louis.

"Is there anyone that you like  Louis?" Harry inquires.

"Mm, yeah. But he's a bit older than me."  Louis confesses.

"That doesn't matter much. As long as it isn't a huge age gap like 9 years or something... it's not is it?"

"No no. It's not."  Louis quickly reassures.

"Good. So what's he like? He has to be good for you to like him."

"He's funny. And really super hot. And nice. And easy to be around. And interested in my life. And helpful. And I don't know. I could go on for a while about him and what we've talked about before."

"He sounds like a good guy then. You live on the next right, right?" Harry asks, still smiling from hearing Louis prattle on  about his crush.

"Yeah."

Harry pulls into Louis' empty driveway and turns towards  Louis.

"If you need a ride or anything else, call or text me." He grins.

Louis nods his head and says bye to Harry before clumsily hopping out of the car to grab his crutches and backpack from the back seat.

~o~

As  Louis  comes into his fist that night, he turns his head into the pillow which muffles the sound of Harry's name falling from his lips.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We learn that Zayn likes Liam! And Louis is deep into his crush on Harry.  
> What should the next chapter be about? Maybe something heavily Ziam? Something almost or does happen between Louis and Harry?
> 
> On an official note, I haven't gotten feedback on this since the first chapter; _which was in August._ So I'd like at least one comment before I ever post chapter 6. Could be what you liked or what you want to be different. I don't mean to sound demanding but it motivates me and writers happen to like getting feedback. That's it! c:


	6. Chapter 6

Louis is feeling extremely annoyed at his mum lately. For the second time this week, she’s going to come late to pick him up. Again he’s waiting outside; this time in the back of the school by the field when she texts him back. She says there’s “Shenanigans at the grocery store. Held up. You can blame the twins.”

He’s too tired for this and just wants to go home and take a shower, so he doesn’t bother with calling anyone else but Harry.

“Hey Louis! What’s up?” Harry says enthusiastically into the phone.

“Um remember when you said I could call you if I needed something? Well I was wondering if you could pick me up from school?” Louis asks hesitantly as he shuffles the phone to the other ear.

“Well, actually, I’m sort of at work right now.” Harry says overly drawn out. Louis could almost picture him scratching the nape of his neck awkwardly.

“Oh. I’m sorry. Of course you’re at work. Responsible adult and all that. Sorry for bugging you. I’ll just try something else. Thanks.” Louis rushes embarrassedly. He can’t believe that he even decided to bother Harry when of course he has more important things to do. He is just about to press the red end call button when he hears Harry saying something on the other end of the line.

“Wait. What did you say?”

“I said that it’s not a problem to come get you. My shift is over in about an hour and ‘m pretty sure Barbara wouldn’t mind if I left early.”

“But I don’t want to be a nuisance. I can’t let you leave early.”

Harry laughs. “It’s not like you can stop me. And besides I’m Barbara’s best employee. Leaving an hour before my shift’s done isn’t going to make a difference. So, same spot as last time?” Louis can hear the jingle of a set of keys in the background and figures that Harry is already on his way out.

“Actually come to the back of the school. See you when you get here.” He ends the call with a smile.

~o~

When Harry comes around, Louis could not be more grateful. The three boys from the soccer team are only partially aware of the car pulling around to the back entrance, thinking it’s someone unimportant as they continue assaulting Louis. But then Harry steps out looking furious and they finally give a cursory glance to the man making his way over.

“Is that your boyfriend coming over to save you faggot? Decided to call him for help beforehand?” Alex whispers harshly as he lands a kick to Louis’ side.

“What the fuck is going on here?” Harry immediately asks upon arriving to the scene.

“It’s none of your business. Go away.” This time it’s Max who speaks up; barely acknowledging Harry as he steps on Louis’ cast, making the boy whimper in protest.

That’s when Harry loses it. He can’t help it as he grabs the blonde boy by the collar of his shirt, bunching it in his fist and bringing him closer to eye level so he’s just standing on his toes.

“Fucking lay a single finger on him again and I’ll personally be doing much worse to you on my own time.” The kid is shaking the smallest bit in his grasp so he decides to lighten up. “Leave Louis alone, got it?” He lets go of the boy and he gathers up the other two and quickly walks off in the opposite direction.

As soon as they’re out of sight, Harry crouches down next to Louis.

“Louis? Are you okay? Say something.”

Louis turns his head towards Harry and offers a small smile. “That was sort of hot.”

Harry snickers for a moment before cackling loudly.

“Where are your crutches?” Harry asks when he can talk without laughing.

“They’re to your left a few feet.”

After Harry grabs Louis’ crutches and helps him up, he helps him to his car and into the passenger’s seat.

“You can come to mine so I can clean you up a bit, I’m sure your mum wouldn’t appreciate you coming home like this, and then I’ll drive you home.”

On the way to Harry’s house, Louis does his best to pick out the blades of dry yellowed grass out of his hair and mostly succeeds, but can’t do much about the dirt or the small cut along his cheek.

“This doesn’t happen to you often, does it?”

Louis is snapped out of his wandering thoughts when he hears Harry speaking to him.

“Oh um, sometimes. It’s not a big deal though.” He almost makes to bite on his thumb nail out of nervousness but decides against it when he sees the shape it is in.

“Of course it’s a big deal. They bully you. Have you told your mum about it or anyone else?” Harry looks so concerned that Louis thinks that it is an adorable contrast to the furious look he had on when confronting Max.

“No. And I don’t want to tell them.”

Harry can detect the final tone to Louis’ voice and doesn’t push the subject further as not to upset him.

“We’re here. You can get out, right?” Harry asks as he pulls into his driveway and stops the car. Louis nods in response.

When they’re inside the house with the door locked behind them, Harry leads Louis to the bathroom and sits him on the cool edge of the white porcelain tub. Harry wets a washcloth he grabs from the towel railing and gently wipes Louis’ face clean before doing the same with his hair.

He realizes that he’s really, extremely close to him when he could practically make out each individual long eyelash framing his startlingly blue eyes that are looking at Harry curiously, wondering what he’s going to do next. He could make out the delicate cupid’s bow of his thin, pink lips and this is all too much to take. So he mentally says fuck it and leans forwards just enough to be kissing Louis.

Harry’s eyes stay open long enough to see Louis’ widen in shock for a mere second before they fall shut and he begins to kiss back. Louis can’t believe this. Harry kissed him. He _is_ kissing him. His lips are against his and they’re moving. They’re so soft and oh god this is fantastic. Harry moves forwards a bit more to get closer and his hand that was on Louis’ cheek has now moved to grab a hold of his hair. He licks against the press of Louis’ lips and the younger boy eagerly parts them to let Harry in.

Louis makes this soft sound of contentment against Harry’s mouth that comes out almost in a whimper and it sounds like joy to Harry’s ears. Harry pulls away and his swollen, red lips begin trailing down Louis’ neck, nipping and softly brushing the skin that is becoming redder and warmer under his touch and just as he gets to his collarbone and the edge of his shirt; hands sliding to his waist, Louis falls off the edge and into the bathtub itself.

Neither of them say a thing for a brief moment before Harry bursts out laughing and Louis joins in with giggles of his own that echo off the walls of the medium sized room.

“You need a hand there?” Harry offers an outstretched hand as he stands up from the floor.

Louis grabs on tight so Harry can pull him up off his bum and onto his feet and hops into the hallway to grab his crutches. Harry follows him back outside and back to his car so he can take him home.

“How was your day honey?” Jay asks Louis after inspecting the small cut on his cheek.

He tries to think of a way to sum up everything that has happened and managed to come up with one way to summarize it up. “It was, good.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was probably shit but at least it was over 1,000 words! I wanted to put something up for you guys since I meant to do so a few days ago but got busy with a couple things.
> 
> But they kissed! Wow. Protective Harry's instincts kicked in! Which was sort of hot to picture. Like imagine him like that, yum. Um I'll try/hopefully will have another chapter up before January 2nd. Comments would be most appreciated. :)


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I sort of included all the ideas commented on the author’s note I posted before this because they were all pretty great! Basically our two favorite protagonists finally get together!
> 
> Thanks to bottomlouiswriter, T13, and Katitat for their contributions, this chapter is out because of them <3

It’s cold. And the ground is muddy and squelches beneath Louis’ feet each time he takes a step. The weather doesn’t bother him at the moment since he’s too happy that the stupid, heavy, cast he had on his foot for the past month or so is finally off. Now that he can walk like a normal person, all he wants to do is enjoy being outside.

He’s wearing his favorite sweater; the one that starts off dark blue and fades to a color almost comparable to the sky on a rare sunny day and has his hands pulled far into the sleeves that are the slightest bit too long.

On his long walk, he passes by a chain of bakeries he sees everywhere he goes and his mouth waters just at the thought of having a pastry that came hot out of the oven. Of course the food at Barb’s was much better, but Louis was never going to go back there; at least not on his own.

Ever since that day when Harry acted as the hero to his distress and took him home, he hasn’t talked to Louis at all. He hasn’t texted or called since they kissed. Of course Louis thinks it’s his fault. Why would Harry want to talk to him? He’s probably realized that he’s too old for him or he’s actually not a good kisser or he’s totally repulsive and unattractive and gross. (All three sound like possibilities).

Louis _has_ tried talking to him a couple times and even went as far as stopping by the bakery, only to find Harry wasn’t there. So now that Harry’s not answering his messages and wants nothing to do with him, Louis’ stopped texting him as not to appear desperate.

The vibrating of his phone in his back pocket breaks Louis out of his reverie and he pulls the device from his pocket. When he sees who he gets a text from, he has to say that he’s surprised.

_Hey Lou. Sorry I haven’t talked to you in a while. Meet me at the bakery? -H_

Louis waits two minutes before saying that he’ll come.                                                            

-

When Louis walks into the quaint shop, the only inhabitant is Harry. As soon as Louis walks in; making the golden bell above the door signal his arrival, Harry walks out from the kitchen and smiles brightly at Louis. He brings a plate of warm, freshly baked cookies and two glasses of tea to the table that they always used to sit at.

When the two males are together at the table, the atmosphere is thick with awkwardness. Finally, Harry speaks.

“So, we should talk about what happened.” Harry starts as he finally looks across the table at Louis.

“Maybe we should have done that earlier instead of ignoring me.” Louis says simply before biting into a cookie.

“Yeah. That was all my fault and I’m sorry.” Harry blushes.

Over the next hour, they become familiar with each other after freezing each other out for the past couple weeks and begin to laugh and talk about what’s been going on with them lately.

“Now that we’ve cleared things up and I know how you feel about me by now, I was just thinking that I’d like to take you out on a date sometime? As my boyfriend if you want?” Harry asks nervously scratching his neck.

It takes Louis a moment to respond from pure shock and when he does, he finally manages to stutter out a response. “Wow um yeah, definitely. Okay. I accept.”

Harry grins widely and to any passerby looking at his face, he looks as if he had just won a million dollars.

“That’s great! I’ll call you later or something when I actually have things figured out. Do you need a ride home or anything?” Harry asks pleasantly while he stands to clear the dishes and to wipe up sticky chocolate smudges from the table.

Louis shakes his head and tells him he’s going to walk around for a while. When they say goodbye in front of the shop after closing up, Harry leans down and kisses Louis lightly on the lips for a second time ever. It’s all Louis can do to keep from fainting.

Of course Louis immediately sets off to Zayn’s house to tell him about these developments.

~o~

“So he asked you out?” Zayn asks, combing his fingers through Louis’ hair.

Louis blinks up at Zayn from where he was resting his head in his lap. “Yeah and he was like, nervous about it. I don’t know _why_ since I’m pretty lame-“

“I can agree with that statement.” Zayn interrupts playfully. Louis pinches his thigh in response.

“But it was nice. He was just a little freaked out about the whole bathroom fiasco due to me being a small bit younger and how things sort of escalated, and apologizing for his behavior when confronting Max- which was hot by the way. I mean wow. Uh, yeah. He apologized and explained and we talked and he asked me out on a date.”

Zayn could see that the longer Louis rambled about Harry, the more flushed his cheeks grew and the larger his smile widened. He can’t help but be happy for one of his best friends.

“But enough talking about me. What about you? Anything with Liam? You still have a crush on him? Expose your inner desires and secrets to Louis my friend.”

Zayn makes sure Louis can _feel_  the eye roll he’s giving him and Louis simply snickers in response.

“No nothing’s happened with Liam. You know that. Nothing is going to happen with him either.”

Louis sits up and squeezes his friend’s face in his hands, making sure he’s looking at him (his stare is a mix of aggravation slight confusion and a twinge of amusement, but he is looking Louis in the eyes and that’s all he wanted).

“You’re so pessimistic. You have a crush on Liam and it’s obvious to everyone but him. You can’t say nothing is going to happen until you fucking try to at least tell him how you feel which doesn’t seem to be happening anytime soon. Man up Malik and tell your best friend Liam that you like him and would most definitely like to fuck him one day. Thus concludes valuable advice from Louis.”

Zayn is frowning at Louis and his cheeks are red, but he doesn’t say anything. Louis considers this a win. Zayn eventually stops glaring intensely and lies back on his bed, turns on the tv to _The Breakfast Club_ and Louis lies back and joins him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have something planned for Zayn and Liam, but sadly it won’t show up for quite a few chapters. We practically haven't seen Liam and that's my fault, but I love Zouis and their dynamic. Niall is included as a character and we haven’t seen or heard from him at all, but I’ll just tell you that he’s a friend of Harry’s and will be included at least once in the mid-late parts of the story.  
> What should the date be, hmm? Totally don’t have to comment but would love if you did!


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Takes place about two months after they started dating.

“Louis, do you need a ride to school? Mark’s taking the twins today so I can take you.” Louis’ mother asks him one Tuesday morning before school.

Louis looks up from his lap where he has his phone and answers her question. “Um, that’s okay. Harry is going to take me to school today.”

As Louis holds his mum’s stare, he can see the distain on her expression and already knows the gist of what she is about to say.

“Louis, you know how I feel about that boy.” She starts.       

“And you know how _I_ feel about ‘that boy’.” Louis responds; using air quotes around the same words she said.

“I really don’t need any attitude from you right now. You know that I only want what is best for you and quite frankly, I don’t think that boy meets that description.”

Louis sighs heavily and excessively just to get his point across. “Yeah well, Harry is really great to me and I don’t see why you can’t be nice and happy about the fact that he isn’t a terrible person. But anyways, he’s out front and I’m going to school. Bye.” Louis shoves himself off the couch, grabs his backpack on the way out, and shuts the door behind him.

“Louis, what’s-” Harry begins to say as soon as he sees Louis’ expression. Louis stops him before he can continue.

“Nothing. Just drive please.”

~o~

Louis doesn’t stay at home for dinner that night. Once more the mere mention of Harry begins a row between the two of them and Louis immediately excuses himself.

“Where are you going Louis?” Jay asks, following Louis to the hallway.

“To Liam’s. I might stay the night. Love you, bye.”

When Louis is around the corner from his house, he calls Liam on his cell phone.

“Hi Li. I need you to cover for me and tell my mum that I’m over there, in case she calls.” Louis says in a hushed tone.

He can hear Liam’s soft sigh and his response of “You’re lucky I love you.”

“I love you too dude. Bye.” Louis whispers into the speaker as he begins to walk up the steps to Harry’s flat.

At the last second, he decides that he’ll surprise Harry knocks sharply three times on the mahogany door and rocks back and forth on his heels. But thankfully the door opens to reveal Harry in a white t-shirt and boxers.

“Louis, what-”

Louis stands on his tip toes and presses his mouth to Harry’s hungrily. Harry remains surprised for a moment but slides his hands down his sides and to Louis’ tiny, curvy waist and kisses on. The pair slips through the doorway and the door slams shut when Louis is pressed against the wood, boxed in by Harry’s arms. The kiss progresses into open mouths and roaming hands and ruffled hair and panting breaths.

“Louis, why are you here?” Harry whispers against the column of Louis’ throat; in between sucking bruises into the soft, tan skin.

“I, I didn’t feel like being home. Can-” Harry finds the perfect spot by his jugular that has Louis’ sentence being cut off by a high moan. “Take me to your bedroom? I want to.”

Harry pulls away and looks at Louis, making sure he’s meeting his eyes.

“Are you sure about this? You don’t have to.”

“Of course I’m sure. Just kiss me and make me feel good, please.”

Harry doesn’t want to disappoint him or make him feel bad; he could see the look in his shiny wet, blue eyes and hear the way his voice was thick with annoyance and a bit of anger.

So he picks Louis up bridal style, making him giggle into his neck. Harry can’t help but smile. As he navigates down the dimly lit hallway, Louis wraps his arms around his neck and holds on tight.

Harry takes things slowly with Louis. He gently drops him on top of his bed and asks him once more for assurance if he wants to do this. Of course Louis’ answer is yes. The clothes come off slowly and get strewn about the room, neither of the boys caring.

Louis watches as the older man grabs a bottle from the nightstand along with a sliver foil packet. When the first slick finger enters Louis’ tight hole, Louis whimpers quietly enough that Harry can’t hear it. Slowly, Harry works up to three fingers and has shivers of pleasure running down Louis’ spine along with little moans falling from his lips.

“Louis, are you sure you want to do this?” Harry asks unobtrusively as he rolls on a condom.

Louis fumbles around on the bed for Harry’s hand and when he finds it, he gives it a reassuring squeeze.

“I’m sure.” Louis nods his head.

At first, nothing is all too great. It doesn’t feel terrible, but it’s not mind-blowingly fantastic. But as soon as Harry finds that perfect spot within him, Louis moans and his back arches. Harry smiles down at him and increases the force of his thrusts. Louis wraps his legs around Harry’s waist almost instinctively and Harry moans lowly, in the back of his throat while Louis whines, bucking up to meet Harry’s hips.

“I’m close, Harry.” Louis moans brokenly and Harry doesn’t acknowledge what he’s said, what with the focus on the intensity of his thrusts. All he wants is to make Louis feel as good as possible. Soon he can feel that tingly ball of nerves in the pit of his stomach and wraps a hand around Louis’ cock that is hard and curved against is stomach to get him to come before he does. Louis ruts into his hand and comes with a shuddering cry. Harry takes a few more sporadic thrusts and comes inside the condom with a guttural moan.

Slowly, Harry pulls out to not bother the overly sensitive Louis and crawls out of bed to throw the condom in the trash can and get a washcloth to clean the two of them up. As soon as he gets back into bed, Louis is mostly asleep, but has enough energy to curl up next to Harry with his head on his chest and arms around his waist. Before he drops off into sleep, Harry mutters goodnight into his soft, chestnut hair.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that the smut wasn’t in depth and that this chapter was probably terrible. I’m trash. But the next time there’s smut (not for a while) it will be very good quality. 
> 
> I updated again within three days!!! Now that there’s been some sexy times, you all can tell what is going to happen relatively soon (within the next 2-5 ch). As always, comments would be appreciated by me :)


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve had writer’s block when it came to this chapter and didn’t feel motivated to write, etc. So, sorry for the slower than usual update. And for reference, the smut took place in very early December, the beginning of this chapter is early January, and the middle of this is very early February.

The first time that Harry is seen with Louis at his school is in January, right after winter break ended. It’s soon before the bell rings, and Louis woke up late because he got four hours of sleep, doing homework. Harry rolls up to the front of the school by the main entrance and Louis hurries out. But not before Harry leans over to kiss him on the cheek.

Louis dashes inside and meets up with Liam and Zayn at their lockers, says a quick hello, and walks to his math class. When he sits down, the blonde girl in the seat next to his looks up from her phone to greet him.

“Hi Louis. How are you?”

“I’m- fine. Why are you asking? We don’t know each other.” Louis responds, looking at her with a puzzled expression.

“Yes we do silly. We had history together a couple years ago. I’m Ashley.”

Her pearly white smile is off-putting and if he’s honest, Louis doesn’t remember her; especially since they haven’t spoken a word to each other, ever. Louis gives her a blank stare until she finally looks away.

~o~

“Louis, people are whispering about you. Have you heard anything?” Liam asks him at lunch that day.

“Not really. What are they saying?” Louis questions between bites of his sandwich.

This time, Zayn is the one to say something. “Basically things like ‘who’s the hot guy he was with’, ‘are they going out or something’, etcetera.”

Even now, as they’re sitting at their table in a small group of three, there are still fleeting glances at the three of them; more so aimed at Louis. Suddenly he feels as if the loud chattering of the cafeteria is about him which makes him slightly uneasy.

“Oh. That explains why this girl Ashley wanted to talk to me today, despite not knowing each other really.”

They decide to keep the conversation away from this new development and change subjects to keep Louis’ mind off of it. It works somewhat.

“I’m gonna head up to Mr. Demarin’s room a little early. I can’t take it down here.” Louis says, quickly standing up from his chair and throwing away what was left of his lunch.

Zayn and Liam nod understandingly and watch Louis leave.

~o~

“Louis, how are Zayn and Liam? I haven’t seen them around in a while. What’s going on with them?” Louis’ mother asks him one night while preparing dinner for the family.

Louis sighs and says in a slightly bitter tone “I don’t know. We’re not talking right now.”

“But you’ve been best friends for years. What happened?”

Taking out the dishes from the cabinet to put on the table, Louis answers “They’re arse holes.”

He ignores his mum’s warning of “Watch your language” and continues “And don’t like the new people that I am friends with so they’re acting jealous or something.”

His mum takes a break from stirring what was in the pot to have a talk with her son. She sits at the head of the table and pats the place next to her, motioning for Louis to sit down. When his attention is on her, she talks about their friendship, how sometimes even if you think someone is in the wrong, you should be the one to apologize, and that Liam and Zayn have been there for him through everything and that he should at least figure things out with them.

Soon, the timer on the oven goes off and Jay gets up to stop the incessant dinging and to stir the pot.

“What’s for dinner then?” Louis asks her right before the rest of the family comes down to eat.

“It’s beef stew, your favorite.”

Louis smiles and sits down at the table, next to Lottie and soon his dad and the other three sisters are sat at their places. As soon as the first spoonful of the stew is in his mouth, his face contorts into a grimace, and he runs to the bathroom to throw up.

~o~

“Boo bear, are you sick?” His mum is leaning on the doorway to the bathroom on the second floor, watching her son with a frown.

Louis lifts his head up from the toilet bowl to glare at his mother, muttering a quiet “Don’t call me that mum.” Before retching into the toilet once more.

“Fine, fine. But you might be sick though. You’ve been tired quite often and throwing up almost every day for the past week. I think that has to mean something.”

As much as Louis doesn’t want her to be right about him being sick, he can’t help but think of the possibility.

“It’ll be fine- I’ll be fine. Don’t worry so much.” Louis says, standing on slightly shaky legs and flushes the toilet.

“I’m your mum. I’m supposed to worry. But if you say you’re fine, then I’ll leave it alone. For now.”

As Louis gets ready for school and brushes his teeth, he decides that he needs to find out if he’s sick or not. Before first period starts, Louis walks to the Wellness Center that is a part of the school that keeps things between them and the students anonymous. He makes an appointment for Thursday, two days from today.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a little shorter than usual, but I think the end was a good stopping point. So peoples, my birthday is today. This is only 8 kudos away from 200 so can we go ahead and get it there? Comments and kudos are appreciated as usual. :)


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, so many kudos last chapter. Thanks so much!

“So Mr. Tomlinson, why are you here today?” Ms. Adelaide asks him.

“Um, I’ve been feeling a little under the weather lately.” Louis answers, shifting on the bed, making the thin protective paper sheet crinkle underneath him.

Today was Tuesday, the day of his appointment. He made it right after school and told him mum that he was going to stay after; something that wasn’t a complete lie. Nurse Adelaide was a woman of a petite stature in her late 40’s. She has dark blonde hair that was beginning to gray and was pulled into a bun. When she isn’t asking questions about him, his health, or habits, Louis thinks that she’s a pretty nice person.

“What kind of symptoms are you experiencing? Anything at all that is out of the ordinary.”

“I’m throwing up sometimes; at least once a day, almost every day. And I’m sleepy more frequently. And, uh, my nipples are almost always a little sore.” Louis says with a blush and averted eyes.

“Are you sexually active?”

“Yeah.” Louis mumbles at a lower volume.

The nurse sits on her swivel stool and writes down all the things Louis had listed on his chart that was attached to a brown clipboard. The only sound in the room for a minute or so is the sound of her pen scribbling across the paper the additional notes she has.

Soon enough, she looks up from her lap and produces a plastic cup with a white lid.

“First, I’m going to need you to pee in here for me. And afterwards, we’re going to need to do a blood test.”

Louis takes the cup in his hand and walks out of the room and into the direction of the bathroom.

~o~

“So your results will be back in a few days and you can stop by on Monday to get them.” Ms. Adelaide tells him at the end of the appointment.

“Okay. I’ll be seeing you on Monday then. Thank you.” Louis smiles, pulling open the door.

“No problem. Have a good day!”

~Monday~

“Hi Ms. Adelaide. Can I go ahead and find out my results?” Louis asks her with a smile on Monday afternoon.

“Of course. Let me grab you chart from the file room really quick.” She stands up from her swivel stool and walks right across the hall where everyone’s files are located. Louis sits patiently until she comes back.

Flipping open the manila folder, she scans over the contents and looks up when she gets what is being said.

“So the news came back with all good results. The reason why you haven’t been feeling up to par lately is because you’re pregnant.”

The cheerful, easy going mood Louis was in dissipated in that moment and the smile that was previously on his face slipped.

“No- I- that can’t be right. I’m not- are you sure?” Louis fumbles.

Ms. Adelaide nods her head. “Everything came back okay. Levels of everything are normal, minus the estrogen content in your blood stream, which is at a slightly higher level than usual; to be expected. And pregnancy was the only thing that came back positive. I know it may be a bit of a surprise but-”

Louis cuts her off in the middle of her sentence, unable to contain what he was about to say. “A bit of a surprise? It’s a huge surprise to me. I’m only 15 for God’s sake. How am I- I don’t know what to do.”

“There are a couple options. You could get an abortion, which you would have to think heavily about since you can’t make the decision for a couple days after finding out the news, you could carry to full term and keep the baby, or you could opt for adoption. Whatever you pick, there are referrals we could make you and info that we could give you to help.” She says with a kind smile.

Louis rubs his eyes, trying to fight off the urge to cry that has suddenly come up and sighs. “Can I have a couple days to make my decision?”

“Of course. You don’t have to decide anything right now.” Ms. Adelaide nods. “Just stop by real quick when you’ve decided; you don’t even have to make an appointment. Just tell them you’d like to see me when you come in, alright?”

Not quite able to speak, Louis offers her a nod and leaves.

~o~

It is four days before Louis makes a decision. He’s mulled over every option and finally stopped crying before falling asleep every night. At first an abortion seemed like the option to choose, but then he figured that doing that might bother him and he would be sad for a while. So then, he went back and forth between the other two options, exploring the pros and cons of each before deciding that he’s going to keep the baby.

The thought of it still makes him freak out.

On Friday, Louis slowly rolls out of bed, feeling a bit despondent and decides to pull on a sweat shirt and a pair of jeans. He doesn’t really want to bother. When his mum sees him that morning, she gives him a look that seems to ask him what’s wrong, to which he doesn’t respond.

Not being quite ready to face his mum, or Harry, Louis walks down the sidewalk a bit further to the bus stop and waits for the bus to come.

\--

After telling Ms. Adelaide his decision, she gives him some pamphlets on pregnancy, kids, and anything that might be related. Thankfully, he decided to go during his lunch period and finishes up with her just as the bell rings.

As he’s walking back to the school and to his class, he notices a couple of his friends in a huddle. He is about to go over to talk to them, until he hears a glimpse of their conversation.

“I know. Jason saw him going into the wellness center a couple times when he was going to lacrosse practice.” Ashley, the same girl who said they’d had history together before said.

“He’s probably slutting it up with his boyfriend, Harry? It’s too bad he’s probably given him some sort of disease.” The brunette responds.

Louis doesn’t bother staying for the rest of the conversation between them. Feeling even more ready to cry, he swiftly walks into the bathroom closest to him and locks the handicapped stall; the biggest of the five, once he’s inside. Thankfully there are lids on the toilets at his school, so he puts one of them down and sits on the toilet with his backpack on the floor at his feet. As soon as the late bell rings and the bathroom clears out, Louis knows that he has his privacy and lets the tears fall.

He lets everything out and cries for as long as he sees fit, which seemed to be at least for a whole period. Finally his sniffling comes to a stop and his eyes seem unable to let out anymore tears, which means that he’s finally done crying. Overhead, the bell for last period chimes and Louis quickly stands up and gathers his backpack, opening up the stall door.

When he catches sight of himself in the mirror, he wants to cringe at his reflection. His eyes are red and puffy, along with his face that is blotchy red in some areas and not in others. Not looking any longer, Louis turns away from the glass and starts to make his way to chemistry.

~o~

Liam has science with him which was usually a good thing since he’s crazy smart at it. But in this situation in which he sees how bad off Louis looks at the moment, it’s not a good thing. Before they were fighting with each other, Liam sat next to him in class. But now, he sits on the other side of the room, next to Johnny Kapowski. Despite this, he meets Louis eyes, silently telling him that they’ll talk later.

\--

“Liam, I’m sorry. I know I’ve been a bad friend for the past couple weeks and haven’t been fair to you and I’m sorry.” Louis says before Liam can say a single word to him.

The bell rang, signaling the end of the day and the two of them wait until the class room is empty to begin talking.

“And?”

“And you are a perfect human being and totally above my companionship. I am supper sorry for ditching you guys in the past couple weeks for the people I thought were my friends.”

Liam grins. “Alright, I forgive you. Why do you look like hell?”

“Actually I want to tell you later. I’m still sorta off at the moment. And I need to apologize to Zayn too. So I’ll go to your house later on today?” Louis asks.

Just as they push open the doors at the front of the school, Liam tells him yes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That chapter was a bit longer than usual, but I wanted to get quite a lot in there. So we all know the news and Louis isn’t taking it to well. But he’s adjusting; sorta. You'll see next chapter. I hope you liked this chappy and you can tell me what you liked or didn’t like in the comments. And as always, kudos are appreciated. <3


	11. Chapter 11

“So now I don’t know what to do.” Louis mumbles into the pillow he’s shoved his face into.

Him, Liam, and Zayn were upstairs in Liam’s bedroom all piled on his bed. Zayn is upside down, hanging from the side of the bed since the movie they put on had gone off, and Liam is lying on the right side of the bed next to Louis, calmingly sliding a hand up and down his back as he relayed the events of the past week.

“Well first, he is the dad so you should tell him soon. And you’re not 100 percent if you wanna, y’know, have the baby, you can still have an abortion until like 5 months I think.” Liam adds helpfully.

“I’ve decided to keep it. I mean I’m not exactly happy about it, but I don’t think I could go through with doing it.” Louis responds, turning his head out of the pillow to be able to properly breathe. He was always taught that oxygen was important… to live.

Zayn accidentally slides down the bed a little too far and falls to the floor with a thud and a groan. Neither of his friends pays him any mind.

“So what are you gonna tell your mum?” Zayn inquires after a few moments of moaning of exaggerated agony. Liam looks over at the edge of the bed to see him with ruffled, messy hair, rubbing the top of his head where he fell.

“I don’t really know. I mean I have to tell her; but I don’t want her to like hate me.”

“Lou, she could never hate you. She’s your mum and loves you and that won’t change.” Liam comforts.

“How about we watch another movie. I don’t wanna think about this anymore.”

Smiling, Liam says “Sure thing Lou.” And Zayn puts another movie in the dvd player.

~o~

The first person that Louis decides to tell -other than his friends- is Harry. He seems like the most important person to tell first. After school, Louis walks down to the bakery at a time of day that is slow and has few visitors; a shift that Harry often works. He walks in and doesn’t buy anything despite wanting to order a scone, deciding to keep the meeting short and simple.

He basically sits down with Harry at a table and tells him. At first he doesn’t say anything, then they talk things out a bit more. At the end of the conversation, Harry says he needs to process things and they’ll talk later.

Louis nods and leaves.

\--

Harry’s reaction unsettled him a bit and Louis doesn’t want his mum to act that way, or at least see it. So he simply texts her ‘I’m pregnant.’

Not ready to face her or her wrath, Louis walks to Zayn’s house despite the fact that it was a forty minute walk there.

On the way, his phone chimes with texts from his mum, some of which read:

‘Louis? What do you mean you’re pregnant???’

‘Louis, answer me.’

‘You have your phone with you young man. Pick up.’

‘You’ve got to be kidding me. :/’

‘I know you’re at Zayn’s. I called Trisha. We’re going to talk about this and I love you X.’

~o~

Harry doesn’t take his phone calls for four days. Louis sends him quite a few texts, all of which go unanswered. Seven days after receiving the news, Harry makes sure to talk to Louis and also tells him that they need to break up.

Louis goes home, unable to stop himself from crying.

~o~

“Louis, I’ve scheduled you a doctor’s appointment for Saturday afternoon. You’re going to have to keep healthy so the baby can be healthy too.” His mum tells him Wednesday night.

He hasn’t really felt like doing much since Harry broke up with him, which was three days ago. Thankfully, his mum didn’t say anything about how Harry was a good-for-nothing arse hole or anything else and instead gave him a hug and a cup of hot cocoa and a talk that made the ache a little bit more bearable.

“Alright.” Louis sighs.

He was lying in bed with the covers pulled up almost to his head, moping. Unable to see her son sulking for so long, she sits down at the edge of his bed and pulls the covers down to see him. When he sits up in bed, she has a long talk with him; hoping to cheer him up and help him get over Harry. Maybe it’s actually helped because thirty minutes later, there is a smile upon Louis’ face and Jay returns it because she’s glad that her boy is happy.

~o~

“Today is the twenty third of February, right?”

“Yeah.” Louis says to Dr. Brown, the obstetrician.

The woman moves the gel covered wand around a little more on Louis’ stomach and says “So according to the ultrasound, you’re almost exactly three months along. 11 and a half weeks to be exact. In the second trimester, there will be quite a few changes coming. Mostly a lot of growth since the baby will grow from the five centimeters it’s at to a whopping 20 centimeters by the end of the second trimester. In two weeks, come in for another appointment so we can do a couple tests to make sure the baby is developing healthy and then you won’t have to come back until the 17th week. Since you came a little later than others, we’ll find out the gender then and make sure all of its organs are functioning correctly. Alright?”

Louis nods his head in response, which is a little difficult to do in the reclined back position he is in. After she wipes the gel from of his stomach and turns the screen off, Dr. Brown gives him a couple pieces of paper to Louis to hand to his mum who is in the waiting room and places a black and grey fuzzy picture of the baby in his hands. When he sees the picture and a small proud feeling wedges up inside of him, he doesn’t feel too bad about keeping the baby any longer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how was this chapter? Idk cause I feel like it was blargh. Uh comment and kudos as always. <3


	12. Harry's P.O.V.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been two months since I posted a real chapter of this and there are some personal reasons for that but I'm sorry. And sorry that this is a little bit shorter than usual.

Alright, so Harry knows now that his mind wasn’t in the right place when he broke up with Louis. He was a tad fidgety and there was a lot going on inside his head. But to be fair, he wasn’t expecting Louis to just tell Harry that he was pregnant. Of the times that they’ve actually had sex, Harry made sure that he used a condom and that it was on the right way. But somehow, that wasn’t enough.

Despite the fact that he was happily in a relationship with Louis, he broke up with him because the thought of actually being a parent scared the hell out of him. Like, he only just turned twenty a little more than a month ago. He’s still in uni and trying out new things and “experimenting” as some people say and making new friends. He’s essentially a child himself so how would he be able to take care of one of his own? He doesn’t bother thinking that Louis is probably going through the same thing, but worse. (Okay so he does but instead chooses to block it out).

Every day since then -two and a half weeks to be exact-, the image of the hopeful expression on Louis’ face at his arrival falling when he realized that they weren’t going to talk things through was burned into his mind; something that wants to remind Harry exactly what he’s done and how bad he’s hurt his ex-boyfriend.

Since the break-up, Louis hasn’t passed by the bakery at all and Harry doesn’t blame him. But today as he finally went out to Tesco’s to go shopping for some stuff for his flat; he caught a glimpse of Louis from the far end of the cereal aisle. Harry could see him talking to a blonde girl that looked a couple years younger than him with his arms crossed and an annoyed expression on his face. From Harry’s stance, he could just make out the slight swell of his stomach beneath his shirt and he doesn’t quite know how to feel about that. All he knows is his stomach feels like it’s twisted in a knot and he sort of feels sad. Before Louis turns and sees him and they get into an awkward situation, Harry quickly goes to check out and books it out of there.

~o~

“H, don’t you think it might be just a _little_ early to get drunk. It’s like five something in the evening.” His friend Niall says when he comes over to find Harry nursing his fourth beer in a mopey manner.

“I’m sad.” Harry responds simply. The answer comes out sounding dull and unhappy, just like how his life’s been lately.

Niall casually walks over to the couch and lifts up Harry’s legs before dropping down comfortably. He pats Harry’s back in what he hopes is a sympathetic manner.

“So? You may be sad, but alcohol is not the answer to every problem in the world. I mean I like alcohol as much as the next guy, but it isn’t going to make everything better. Plus you’ll wake up with a killer hang over and probably blame it on me somehow.”

Without saying anything, Harry hands over the half empty bottle to Niall without looking up.

“Good job Haz. Now what’s making you so miserable lately? I haven’t seen you crack a real smile in a couple weeks.”

“Remember how I told you I was dating Louis? Well I broke up with him a couple weeks ago and I saw him today which brought up a couple of feelings and things have been sort of sucky since then.”

Niall looks at Harry like he’s sprouted three heads and cocks his head to the side with furrowed eyebrows. The next question he asks is a good one.

“Why don’t you just talk to him and work things out? Seems like an obvious solution.”

Harry heaves a sigh and turns over on his back, staring at the ceiling as he tries to come up with an answer. “Because things are… complicated.”

When Niall asks him to explain how things could possibly be complicated, Harry relays the entire story from start to finish, not leaving any details out. When Harry is finished talking, the room is encompassed in a thick silence and a disapproving stare from Niall that is directed towards Harry.

“Harry, don’t you think that’s a little harsh? I mean he is probably going through a lot himself and it’s obvious to me at least that you still care for him. Fix things.”

The talk seemed to drain a lot out of Harry and he doesn’t want to talk about Louis or anything else on the subject anymore. So he turns to Niall and says with a flat edge to his voice “I don’t want to talk about it anymore. What’s done is done.”

The hard set to Harry’s jaw and the tone in his voice tells Niall not to push the subject so he doesn’t say anymore and lies down semi on top of Harry for a cuddle that he looks like he desperately needs.


	13. Chapter 13

It’s a Sunday morning and Louis nearly forgets why he woke up at a time before noon until he passes by his calendar with ‘FIND OUT GENDER’ written in a large messy scrawl in black sharpie, contrasting starkly with the white background. Louis squints sleepily at the word as his sleep laden mind puts everything together and he remembers the appointment made a few weeks ago. He places his hand on the curve of his stomach with a light touch as he wonders whether he’ll have a daughter or a son in another few months before shaking his head slightly to himself and walks downstairs for breakfast.

~o~

After the usual things in the appointment like checking to make sure the baby was healthy, that he was healthy, etc., Dr. Brown cleans up his belly and tells him that she will be back with the sonogram pictures.

When the door closes behind her, Louis kicks his feet back and forth, anxious to find out if it’s a boy or a girl. Just as Louis brings his hand up to his mouth to bite on his nails, his mum gently pulls his hand away before he can destroy them even more and says “Louis, relax. You do want to find out the gender, right?”

Louis takes to biting his lip instead and relinquishes it to say “Yeah I do. It’s just like, weird. I don’t know. I think I’m just being weird.”

“Since when are you not being weird?” Jay laughs.

“Hey! I probably got it from you. After all-”

Louis’ sentence is cut off as Dr. Brown walks back into the room with her file in her hands.

The woman takes a seat in her swivel chair and glances down at the file in her hands, taking her time to read the information.

“Everything seems to be in order here. Within the next couple weeks, be prepared to experience an increase in your appetite and to begin sleeping on your side if you don’t already. Nothing’s out of the ordinary and she’s perfectly healthy so far at 13 centimeters and growing at a good rate. Her skeleton is beginning to harden and she can move her joints, which means you’ll probably be feeling kicks soon.”

“It’s a girl? I-I’m having a girl?” Louis asks in disbelief.

Dr. Brown nods with a small smile. “Yes, a healthy baby girl.”

Louis’ bottom lip wobbles and he quickly takes off his glasses to wipe at his eyes (now his eyes get dry when he wears his contacts so he’s wearing his glasses for the next few months) before he can actually cry. His mum gives his hand a supportive squeeze and that makes him wants to cry more because he’s so happy and has so many kind, understanding people around him.

~o~

Louis is over Zayn’s house this time and hanging out with him and Liam when he decides that he wants to and should actually tell them the gender. First he went to the bathroom (the second time since he’s been here) and he guesses that they thought he would be gone for a little while since when he walks back into Zayn’s room, they’re in the middle of making out.

“Wait, hold up. What’s going on here?” Louis asks shocked as the two of them quickly separate.

Zayn wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and looks to Liam who simply shrugs.

“Uh, we were kissing…”

“And how long has this been going on and why didn’t you tell me?” Louis asks when he sits back on the bed, frowning at the pair.

Liam sucks in a breath between clenched teeth and looks away for a moment. “About a month and a half-ish. You just had more important things going on and we wanted to take it a bit slow.”

Liam earns a hard flick to the ear from Louis before he responds once more. “Me being pregnant or doing other stuff doesn’t excuse you from telling me things you idiot-” Next he does the same to Zayn. “and you too!”

“Hey! We were just looking out for you Lou.” Zayn cries indignantly, quickly flinching away.

The flinch makes him fall of the bed again, much like the time when Louis first told them he was pregnant. And even though they’re dating, Liam just looks over at him and laughs. Zayn stands up with what Liam thinks is an adorable pout and climbs back into the small bed, deciding to stay next to Louis now.

“It’s not funny you arsehole. Aren’t you supposed to be nice about it and, I don’t know; kiss it to make it all better?”

Liam smirks and leans over to give his boyfriend a quick kiss on the cheek. “Is it all better now, _babe_?” Liam asks sarcastically.

Even though he’s blushing, Zayn simply rolls his eyes at him and Louis makes a mocking retching noise.

“ _Are you done now?”_

Liam and Zayn nod their heads silently and Louis sighs. “You didn’t have to keep it from me. I love you guys and as long as you’re happy then that’s what matters the most.”

Zayn sees Louis getting teary eyes and before anymore feeling-y things happen he gathers the three of them in a tight group hug.

When they pull apart, Louis settles comfortably into the bed between Liam and Zayn. “So how did this happen? When’d it all start?” He asks curiously

Zayn smiles softly and wraps an arm around Louis’ shoulders. “Well…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter is basically all about Zayn and Liam! Kudos and comments would be great as always! x.


	14. Chapter 14

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How Zayn and Liam get together as told from Liam's perspective.

Liam had never thought of himself as being particularly attractive. He knows he's not _ugly_ , but he doesn't think he's hot or majorly handsome. Which is why he's a bit surprised when Katie from his Spanish class turns around in her desk after the quiz and asks him if he wants to go out with her on Saturday. He had a pretty big crush on her in the beginning of the year and even though it's late March and has faded a lot, that doesn't stop him from accepting.

  
At lunch with Zayn and Louis, he can't help but brag just a little.

  
"Guess who has a date on Saturday night? Go ahead, guess."

  
Louis lifts his displeased stare from the wilted salad in front of him that he nearly stabbed to death with his fork to look at Liam and cocks an eyebrow at him.

  
"Who Liam? Who has a date on Saturday?" He asks sarcastically. Liam's wide, face splitting grin gives it away immediately.

  
"I do! I have a date on Saturday with Katie, that girl from my Spanish class. Remember when I had that huge crush on her in the beginning of the year or whatever? She basically came out of nowhere and asked me out." Liam says excitedly.

  
"That's great Liam. Where're you gonna go?" Zayn asks with a smile that Louis spots as insincere.

  
Due to Liam's excitement, he doesn't take notice. Beneath the table, Louis gives his knee a light squeeze. Zayn gives no indication that he felt it except for a gentle squeeze to Louis' hand.

  
~o~

  
Liam likes her. He does. She's pretty and nice and somewhat interesting, but for some reason, he's not really feeling it. They've just gotten their meals and Liam pushes his food around and around on his plate while Katie continues talking. He wants to figure out why he's not that into her all of a sudden and his thoughts unhelpfully drift to Zayn.

  
After a few minutes, he pushes away from the table with a sudden revelation and mutters a quick apology to Katie, saying he's gonna go. He walks out of the restaurant and finds his feet taking him in the direction of Zayn's house which is, thankfully not too far from where he is.

  
Liam knocks on the door once and waits with his hands shoved into his pants pockets. And just as he is considering turning on his heel and going home, Zayn opens the door, standing in the doorway in a slouchy tank top and basketball shorts.

  
"What are you doing here Liam? Aren't you supposed to be on a date or something?" Zayn asks with a hint of bitterness in his tone.

  
"Uh yeah. Can I come in?"

  
Zayn sighs and steps aside to let Liam inside before slamming the door closed behind him.

  
Being completely straight forward, Zayn gets to the point by asking, again "Why are you here Liam?"

  
"The date didn't go so well. She was great and all but I just wasn't into it or her any more like I thought I was and my first instinct was to come over here for some reason. And during, my thoughts starting shifting to you and I was thinking and I like you. I mean I just came to this revelation like twenty minutes ago, but yeah." Liam rambles.

  
Zayn stares at him with his lips pressed into a firm line, blinking unsure at Liam a couple times. Finally he finds the words to say "You've got to be kidding me."

  
"Look, I know that you might not exactly feel that way about me and that's totally cool and all cause I basically said this without any warning but I just wanted to-"

  
"I like you too idiot." Zayn says, effectively cutting off Liam's rant.

  
Liam's heart is beating just a little too fast and he's surprised to hear Zayn say that.

  
"Are you- are you sure?" He asks shakily while running a hand through his hair.

  
Zayn scoffs. "I'm pretty sure I'd know if I liked you. I've liked you for almost three years now you dork."

  
"Well, uh, this is surprising. And new-" Liam pauses to roll up the sleeves on his button down because he feels really hot right now and the flush that's crept through his entire body probably has something to do with that. "So where do we go from here?"

  
"For starters, you could move forward a little and kiss me. That'd be good." Zayn says playfully and who is Liam to object to that?

  
The kiss is short and sweet and throughout, Liam can feel Zayn smiling. When he pulls away, he feels giddy and light; light enough that he might float away. By the looks of it, Zayn feels the same way.

  
"So. You want to go watch a movie in my room? My parents aren't home right now." Zayn poses.

  
Liam laughs, grin spread wide across his lips. "Yeah. I'd love to."

  
~o~

  
"When did Zayn and Liam get so close? It seems different." Zayn's dad asks when they open the door to their son's room after their night out, only to see him and Liam in his bed, asleep and cuddled together with Liam's arms tightly wrapped around the other boy's waist and Zayn's head on his shoulder.

  
"I have no idea. But I just know I'm happy for them." Trisha whispers quietly with a small smile on her face as she pulls the door shut with a quiet click.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of trouble thinking about how this chapter should go, but it suddenly came to me this morning which is why I haven't updated in a month. Contributions for ideas for next chapter would be great because currently I don't have any, which means it could be a while until the next chapter.
> 
> So ideas, and comments please and if you liked it, kudos as always! <3


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took so long :/. The ideas for this chapter and the next one are thanks to Aleah! So shout out to her. I hope you guys like it. The first part about the baby kicking is a flashback sort of thing btw.

The first time Louis had felt the baby kick had to have been one of the better moments in his life. He was four and a half months along and had been laying in his bed for at least an hour in complete darkness, trying to get some sleep since his body had recently been wired to stay up pretty late. Turned comfortably on his side, he draped an arm over his waist and closed his eyes, hoping to get to sleep soon when he felt a kick. He smiled ecstatically since this was the first movement that didn't just feel like a little flutter inside his belly. It was an actual, real kick.

Louis sat up in bed a little straighter with a hand pressed comfortably against his stomach, wanting to see if he'd feel something again.

"Hey baby, are you as awake as me? Can't go to sleep?" He paused. "Even if you waited until one in the morning to do so, I'm glad that you kicked for the first time. I do wish I had someone to share this moment with though." A dejected sigh puffed from between his lips as the thought of Harry crossed his mind before he quickly pushed it away. It was clear to him just how much he meant to the older man.

As if she knew how Louis was beginning to feel, the baby kicked against Louis' hand a little more powerfully than the first time which managed to coax a slight smile from him.

"Well, at least I have you."

~o~

It is a hot June night when Zayn and Liam come over to Louis' house for dinner per his mother's request, and to put it in mild terms, he's a bit sullen. It's not like they haven't been over his house for dinner before; in fact, they've been to each other's houses too many times to count at this point in their friendship. It's more about the fact that he's already looking pretty pregnant at 25 weeks and isn't feeling too confident in his skin right now; which sucks since he's still going to get bigger, along with the fact that his friends have been acting particularly couple-y since they got together.

Every time he sees them keep their hand holding hidden from his view or sharing a chaste kiss to spare his feelings -they know how he's been feeling down lately-, he feels a pang of guilt hit him in his heart every time because they're happy and he's the one making them hide it, he's toxic for their relationship and probably making them unhappy around him. Louis would bet £10 that that's the same reason why Harry broke up with him. So yeah, maybe he doesn't feel up to hanging out with Liam and Zayn as of late.

Dinner conversation is light and there aren't people shouting over each other like usual since his younger sisters minus Lottie are sleeping over their friend's houses. Louis would admit that it's pretty nice - until his mum basically comes out of nowhere bringing up baby plans and how they need to start getting baby things since there's only a few months until she's born.

"Oh, we could have a baby shower!" His mum says, her face lighting up with glee and sounding more excited than Louis thinks she should be. "We'd plan some games and just invite a bit of the family and-"

"Sounds nice and all mum, but I don't really want a baby shower." Louis interrupts as he pushes around the food on his plate with his fork.

"I mean, it could be fun Lou." Zayn inputs.

"Yeah. You should give it a try at least. And seeing your family and stuff? Presents? Sounds great." Liam chirps happily.

For the first time in a while, him, Zayn, and Liam aren't on the same page which really doesn't do wonders for his mood and he's really sort of done at the moment.

"I _said_ I don't want a baby shower alright? I don't want to do one and I don't want to see the family like this and I **can't**. I don't want to do it. I just - I can't." Louis nearly yells frustrated, hands clenched in fists by his sides. The table has fallen silent, staring at him with a varying mixture of expressions.

Louis sighs and pushes away from the table. "I know we need to do all that stuff, but can we please talk about it later? I need to go take a walk."

When he hears his mum tell him to be back soon, Louis is out the door faster than he thought he could be. Now that he's outside, he's not exactly sure where he wants to go. Without his phone or iPod on him and just the clothes on his back and his thoughts (which brought him to this point in the first place), he begins to wander aimlessly.

~o~

On his walk Louis has calmed down a whole lot, the fresh air and exercise doing him some good. He knows he should make his way home soon, the summer sun beginning to edge closer and closer to setting, but he's not ready to go back home and talk to his mum about preparing his room for the baby and everything else or to see Zayn and Liam at the moment. The mere thought of those things makes his anxiety level skyrocket, meaning it would be in everyones best interest that he stay out a bit longer.

As Louis turns around to most likely go to the shopping center that's not far from his house, he bumps into a blonde guy a few inches taller than him wearing a white t-shirt.

"Shit, I'm sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going. You alright mate?" He says rushed with a heavy Irish lilt, giving Louis a once over to make sure he wasn't hurt or pissed off or anything else.

"Yeah, I'm totally fine. I probably should have been the one paying more attention." Louis says casually, looking up at the stranger with blue eyes (mentally cursing his short stature).

The man laughs. "Nah, you are the one that's pregnant after all. Imagine how bad it could've been instead of a casual collision."

"How about we call it even? This way no one is at fault and we can avoid casual collisions entirely."

The blonde offers out his hand for a handshake. "Sounds good. I'm Niall by the way."

"I'm Louis. Nice to meet you." Louis replies as he returns the shake.

A quick glimpse of realization flashes through Niall's eyes and he can't help but ask "You wouldn't happen to be Louis Tomlinson would you? Sorry if that's a bit weird and all but..."

"I am. But how'd you know that?" Louis asks a tad suspiciously.

"Oh cool! I'm a friend of Harry's!" Niall exclaims brightly as they begin walking along the sidewalk. "He talked about you a lot and I just put two and two together is all. You're what, five months along or something?"

"Six actually." Louis corrects.

"Wow. You look great. How're you doing lately if I can ask?" Niall asks, not wanting to bring up the breakup in case it was a sore topic for Louis -which it was-.

"I've been alright. Not bad I guess. How are you?"

This leads them into a long conversation about themselves and just random topics which leaves Louis feeling better than he has in the past few days. He's laughing and smiling and nearly unaware of the sun going down until the sky is almost completely a dark purple black. He sighs.

"I need to get going. It was really nice meeting you Niall. And uh, could you tell Harry I said hi?"

Niall offers a kind smile. "Yeah. I will."

When the two of them part ways, Louis is feeling lighter and happier and ready to face his mum.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will most likely be up before September 1st since I start school the day after that.


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know the timing of this chapter slightly doesn't correspond to the one before this, but that's not really important.

Louis is seriously and completely grateful for his mum being there for him. When he came back from his long walk where he met Harry's friend Niall, she was at the sink, washing the dishes from dinner in a home that was silent except for Louis' soft footsteps and the sound of the shower running upstairs. When Jay had taken notice of her son, she wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug, which Louis reciprocated and murmured "I'm sorry if I pushed you into doing anything. We don't have to throw a baby shower if you don't want to."

"You don't need to apologize mum, it wasn't you. I just haven't been feeling that great lately. But I'm feeling better enough now that we can talk about stuff and about really preparing for the baby if you want." Louis offered as the hug was broken.

Jay grinned and led the way to the living room.

~o~

A couple weeks after Louis' discussion with his mum, they begin to really prepare his room for the baby whom he still hasn't picked a name for. There were already a couple drawers full of baby clothes and a few packs of diapers, but that's all they really had at the moment, and there was still more to be bought. So on a Saturday morning after his mum had to essentially shake him awake, they head to a store intended for buying baby things, and buy almost all the necessities in a time span of an hour and fifteen minutes until Louis' feet and lower back begin to hurt and he's ready to go back home.

"I know we didn't get the crib today, but we can go somewhere else in a couple days since you didn't like any of the ones there." Louis hears his mum say on the ride home.

The part of the pregnancy where he couldn't get enough sleep didn't kick in until he'd just reached seven months and now it seemed like he was tired all the time.

"It's not my fault all the cribs there were total shit." Louis grumbles before closing his eyes again.

"Louis, watch your language."

Louis heeds his mum's warning and apologizes, saying he's tired and just wants some rest and to get out of his jeans after they put what they got away.

When the car rolls to a stop at the next light, Jay turns her head to the side and takes a real look at her son; noticing the slight bags under his eyes, the small frown on his lips, his sharp features, and his arms crossed lightly over the large curve of his stomach.

Knowing how difficult this could be at times, Jay makes the promise of getting home soon and plenty of sleep.

~o~

The day that all the baby equipment is being put together, Louis isn't required to help and his dad is doing most of the work, so Louis calls Zayn and Liam up to hang out at his house for a couple hours to help cure his boredom.

When they arrive, both of them have a bag each of various baby clothes and toys and put them in Louis' hands.

"Li and I pooled some money together and bought you some stuff for the baby. And our parents wanted to add some stuff to it. They figured you can never have enough onesies." Zayn says when Louis peeks into the bag.

When Louis looks up from the items in the bags, he's smiling a watery smile with teary eyes and he says thanks, pulling his two best friends into a tight hug.

"Louis, it's no problem really. We love you mate." Liam replies grinning.

As the three of them sit on the couch watching multiple movies that day; laughing and spending time together before Louis gets busy with the baby and they all start school, Louis can't feel any more content and happier than he is now.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this was a pretty short chapter, but it was mainly to tie up loose ends/was a slight filler. The next one is when the baby is born. Typical end notes apply. <3


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If there are any minor errors, I slightly proof read this chapter.

The thing is, Louis thought that he was over major embarrassment; at least for the near future. After all the shit he's been through in the past few months, Louis thinks that he should have a break. When he wakes up on a surprisingly sunny and humid late August morning, everything is temporarily okay in the world. That is, until he notices the damp sheets around him and the sharp pain in his stomach.

"Shit. Shit shit shit." Louis mumbles under his breath, feeling momentary relief for a second at the fact that he didn't in fact piss himself like he initially thought.

Figuring that now is most definitely the best time to get up instead of sleeping in a little while longer like he initially wanted, Louis (with some difficulty) clambers out of bed, and pads down the hall to knock on his parent's room with urgency. It is only when he peeks his head through the door and finds the bed completely empty that he picks up on how quiet the house is at the moment -which is beyond strange for a six person household-.

Pulling the door shut and with a hand on his lower back, Louis walks down the stairs as quickly as he can (which isn't very quick) to find out exactly where the hell everyone has gone. The teen scoffs un-amused under his breath when he gets his answer in the form of a note sat on the dining room table.

_"Your father and I decided to take the girls to the zoo as a "you start school in a few days, enjoy this" treat. We figured you could use the extra sleep, especially since the baby's coming soon!! Call me if you need anything- Love mum."_

As Louis is dialing the number he knows by heart, another contraction wracks through him much like the first; and the note which he held in his hand crumples from the vice like grip he has on it along with his face contorting into a grimace of pain.

Not thirty seconds after that, he hears his mum's ringtone blaring from the kitchen and when he hangs up, it stops. Unable to control his anger and frustration in this situation, Louis furiously throws the balled up paper onto the floor and yells "You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

Louis tries to think of who he could call to drive him to the hospital where he **will** have his baby instead of in his house -which will most definitely not happen-. Zayn isn't a viable option since he doesn't have his license, along with the fact that he is out of town at the moment, and his mum is not of any help to him right now. Then Liam pops into his mind. He's the perfect (and only) option since he at least has his license and hopefully (Louis has his fingers figuratively crossed) is home.

Figuring it is well worth a try, Louis who is sweating bullets by now dials up his best friend.

"Hello?" Liam greets.

"Oh thank god you answered." Louis sighs in relief. "Can you come and-" "fuck, take me to the hospital?" Louis grits, trying to rub soothing, small, circles into his well rounded bump; the small motion more for himself than the baby.

"Oh, uh w-why?"

Losing more patience than he thought he had, Louis snaps at Liam. "Because, why do you think Liam? I'm having a baby so if you could, oh I don't know, drive over here and take me to the hospital then that'd be great."

"Chill Louis. I've never been the one to do anything like this so excuse me for being a little flustered momentarily. You don't have to get an attitude with me. But I'll be there in fifteen, that okay?" Liam responds, the sound of keys jingling in the background being heard through the phone's speaker.

Going through another contraction, Louis nods his head mutely, not thinking about the fact that Liam can't hear a head nod, especially when after a few brief moments of silence on Louis' end he hears "Lou? Is that okay?"

"Yeah, yeah it's fine. Thanks Li. Really."

"It's no problem mate, I love you. Be there soon." With that, Liam hangs up, ending the call.

After he scrawls a quick note for his mum, leaving it on the table in place of the one she left him, Louis waddles back upstairs to grab the bag that he has packed for this occasion and waits for Liam's arrival and a new part of his life to begin.

~o~

"Hello, I'm looking for Louis Tomlinson, where is he?" Jay asks right off the bat in a frazzled manner to the woman at the front desk of the hospital.

"He's in the delivery room at the moment mam. You can wait in the waiting room and see him in a while." The red head behind the desk responds monotonously.

"How long exactly is a while?"

The woman looks up from her phone that she hardly took her attention away from and stares blankly at Jay.

"I don't know, I'm not back there with him. You can ask the boy he came in with, maybe he would know." She answers with an attitude before looking back down.

Jay draws in a long, deep breath to refrain from making anything worse or more difficult than it needs to be before turning to the area reserved for people waiting for the ones they care about and spotting Liam who seems to be either texting or playing an intense game on his phone.

Walking over to him, mostly calm and collected, she gingerly takes a seat in the wooden chair with the soft, dark blue plastic cushion next to Liam. The loud poof of air signals her arrival and Liam jumps a little, startled due to the fact that he was texting Zayn and filling him in on everything happening here. After he took Louis to the hospital, it's mainly become talk of "what do you think he's going to name her?" and "I'm definitely going to be the best uncle. I'll spoil her so much you won't have the chance to catch up because she'll be to busy loving me. Ha. Ha ha ha ha." and one short "I miss you x." from Zayn.

"Hi Jay. Where're Mark and the kids?" Liam asks pleasantly as he stretches out his legs in front of him, pocketing his phone.

"I told him he could take the kids home since it's mostly a lot of waiting. They'll be coming by when the baby's born. Speaking of, how's Louis? Was everything alright on the way here? I can't believe I left my phone at home."

"The ride here was fine, basically like usual except for the fact that Louis was being bossier towards me more than usual and still managed to get on me for not driving fast enough in between contractions." Liam snickers.

The two of them spend a lot of the time waiting talking to each other and filling others in on any developments - there are no new ones until the doctor in baby blue scrubs walks into the waiting room.

"Who's here for a Louis Tomlinson?" The short, blonde man asks to the small group of people in the waiting room. The noises of the hospital, the beeps, phones ringing, one old man's snores make what he said hard to hear so he repeats himself louder after clearing his throat.

Liam and Jay both stand up and make their way over to him.

"Now is there anyone else with you? Out getting coffee, in the bathroom, whatever?" The man asks the pair.

"No, we're the only ones at the moment, but my husband and daughters are coming by soon." Jay responds.

The man begins walking down the hallway and talks as he goes. "Well when they arrive, only a maximum of two people can be in the room at a time. It's quieter and less stress..." The man rambles on for a little bit longer, words coming out of his mouth that neither Jay or Liam pay attention to and soon they stop in front of a door in a wing full of the sounds of babies crying or being born and they step inside.

In the hospital bed in one of those papery thin gowns the hospital makes you wear was Louis. He's sitting up in the bed, propped up against a couple of dense pillows with a soft smile on his face. His hair is sticking up in a few places in a disarray and his face is slightly glistening with sweat, but he looks as if he couldn't care about that or anything else in the world except for the little chubby baby bundled in a pink blanket in his arms. Louis doesn't even look up when the door opens to stop his cooing at his daughter.

"Hey love, how are you?" Louis' mum asks softly, not wanting to disturb the atmosphere that seems to surround the two of them.

"Really good mum, great in fact. Just a bit tired though." He answers, looking up for the first time since Liam and his mum entered the white room with blue accents. Just looking at his expression and blue eyes shining blissfully, Liam can tell that he's content and honestly happy.

Liam crosses the room to sit carefully on the edge of Louis' bed and gingerly asks him if he can hold the baby before carefully taking her in his arms. She looks up at Liam only an hour or so old and with green eyes full of wonder.

"Have you given any thought as to what you're going to name her?" Jay questions, holding out her arms towards Liam to hold her first grandchild.

The room quiets for a moment even though not loud t begin with as Liam and Jay await Louis' answer before he speaks up, saying "I decided on Sophia. Sophia Louise Tomlinson."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Honestly, so sorry it took almost a month and a half to update. I just haven't been feeling that great lately and I've been super busy.
> 
> So next chapter is a time skip of 5 years and that's where the rest of the story will take place. I'm thinking the whole thing will be no more than 25 chapters at the most. Comments are very much liked and appreciated and kudos are always good too. My goal for the next update is November tenth -ish.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapter but I wanted to leave some suspense.

Every day that Louis wakes up, it is to his alarm loudly beeping on his nightstand at six fifty in the morning. His blinds are almost always drawn shut, and the sun is partially over the horizon. That time gives him ten minutes to revel in silence and peace, before he has to get Sophia up for school which takes another ten minutes due to her being five and energetic. All of this causes the two of them to often start rushing to get ready for the day since they can almost never stick to the schedule Louis has set. Instead, today it is to complete darkness in his bedroom with his daughter sitting on his chest, face about an inch away from his with green eyes shining excitedly.

"Sophie, what are you doing up?" Louis asks bearily as he turns his head to look at the clock on his nightstand which reads four fifty-two am.

She grins as she says "I can't stay asleep."

Louis remembers her telling him a couple days ago about her class field trip to the nature center right by her school to learn about animals; a favorite topic of hers to learn about.

The twenty year old squeezes the little girl's waist, making her squeak in delight before he asks her if she wants to sleep in his bed, knowing she likes to cuddle, and that it also helps her go to sleep. Her response is haphazardly rolling off of him and bundling under the covers as small as possible.

Louis is thankful that it didn't take much to get her to sleep this time and closes his eyes to get in a few more hours of shut eye. That is, until Sophia says in a soft voice "Can you sing me a song? It doesn't matter which one."

Louis rolls over, putting his arm around his daughter as he thinks of something to sing.

"I've been waiting a long time, for this moment to come, I'm destined for anything at all..."

~o~

It is seven fifty when Louis is rushing out of their flat with Sophie in his arms, tightly holding onto her small backpack. He qucikly locks the door behind them and nearly runs out to the car so that they can be on schedule, and he can be on time for his first job of the day.

When the car rolls to a stop in front of Sophia's school, Louis practically jumps out of the car to open the door for his daughter.

"Bye sweetie! Have a good day at school! I love you!" Louis rushes after unbuckling her from her car seat.

As soon as she's safely inside the building, Louis speeds off to the diner where he works five days a week from eight thirty am to two forty-five; the shift that gives him enough time to drop off and pick up his daughter from school, and to spend some time with her before he has to leave again.

The man anxiously bites his bottom lip as he drives as fast as he can since it is eleven minutes before he starts his shift. Louis just hopes he won't be late.

~o~

The other waitress Louis works with on this shift is a girl with long brown hair that she always ties into a messy bun at the top of her head with hazel eyes who is trying to help her parents pay their way through her education. When Louis walks into the back, haphazardly tying his apron around his waist, and looking absolutely frazzled since he was offically supposed to start his shift fifteen minutes ago; she pushes a white mug of lukewarm tea into his hands with a smile before telling him to fix his hair.

"Thanks Elise, you're a doll." Louis says thankfully, almost gulping the tea down at once.

After the twenty year old runs a hand throuh his hair to make it more messy presentable instead of just messy, he peeks out the doorway to see that there is a rather attractive customer in a booth that hasn't been waited on yet. Grabbing a notepad, a pen, and a smile, Louis walks out there to take his order.

~o~

As he gets closer to this customer's face, Louis can see that this cutomer is very attractive up close. Even though his face is downcast with the menu covering most of it, Louis can see that he has these soft looking brown curls that he's trying to keep out of his face by having his hair pushed back, smooth, relatively pale skin, and these large hands with multiple shiny rings holding up the menu.

Pushing away this overwhelming sense of "Jesus, I haven't even seen his face and I think he's this hot what the fuck", Louis stops near him and says with a welcoming smile and pen and notepad ready to take his order, "Hi, welcome to blacktop diner. Are you ready to order?"

As soon as this customer puts his menu down and turns to face Louis, Louis' false smile turns into a very real frown. The other man has a hopeful smile on his lips along with a look of suprise as he looks up at Louis who immediately poses the question of "What the fuck? Harry, why are you here?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I said I'd post this chapter six days ago, but I've been busy with the school play which is now over. I hope you liked this!


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First time in a while I updated within a week and a half. Continues right where the last chapter left off.

"Uh, I actually came to get some breakfast before I head into class. I'm actually almost finished with my masters degree. I just didn't know you were going to be here." Harry responds abashedly.

"That's _really_ great for you Harry. It's great to see you." Louis says sarcastically with his arms crossed around his middle.

After taking in a short, deep breath (and knowing he deserved all of Louis' difficulty), Harry says "I know it's been a few years, but I would really like to talk to you and catch up if you want."

This is where Louis goes from annoyed and sarcastic to pissed off in the matter of seconds.

"You want to catch up, after it's been five years Harry... are you serious? The last time I spoke to you, you broke up with me when you found out I was pregnant. I was _fifteen_ for christ's sake-- I mean what the fuck. "Catching up" with you is at the bottom of my list of things I want, or have to do so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go anywhere else but here." Louis fumes. His stance quickly changes to defensive during his speech, and the man clenches his hands by his sides to keep himself grounded in a way.

Before Harry can utter another word, Louis turns on his heel and storms off, back into the kitchen. The door slams shut behind him, and Elise who finished serving a customer of her own looks at Louis with a confused expression marking her features.

"Hey Lou? What's wrong with you, and who was that guy?"

"He's just some infuriating guy I used to know that bothers me, a lot. I just need to cool off for a bit."

Peeping through the swinging door, Elise looks to the table where the infuriating guy (as Louis calls him) sat and walks over to the now empty table.

After rejoining him in the kitchen, Elise says "Well, he's not there anymore. And he left you something."

Louis holds in his hands thirty dollars of Harry's money and a note from him written on a napkin that has his number on it along with a note that reads "I'd really like a chance to explain myself and at least apologise. If you don't want to talk to me after that then I completely understand. -H."

The bills and the note are crumpled in Louis' fist and shoved into one of his front pockets, because as much as he doesn't like the guy, he's not going to turn down perfectly useful money.

~o~

As soon as Louis' shift is over, he gets out of there as soon as possible after saying goodbye to Elise. Mainly, he wants to pick up Sophia from school and have some time away from the real world before having to go to work again.

When Louis gets to Sophia's school to pick her up, she immediately runs over to him with her backpack and a small rubber snake clutched in her hand. When he lifts her up, and her legs are securely wrapped around his waist, Louis asks on the short walk to the car "So, how was the animal thing today? Did you have fun?"

"It was super fun daddy. We learned all about reptiles and stuff. And a nature girl came in with lizards and snakes and turtles and we got to touch the snake. It was so cool. It was really smooth and sort of cold. Then they let us choose of a toy to pick and take home and I obviously picked the snake because it was the best one. Can we get a pet snake daddy?"

What Louis picked up out of all of that was that Sophie had fun, there were reptiles, and she wants a pet snake. What he says in response as he buckles her into her car seat is "I'm glad you had fun today baby. And we're not getting a pet snake either."

On the entire ride home, Sophie pouts at him from the backseat, but she perks right back up when Louis promises some ice cream after dinner.

"Is Uncle Zee coming tonight?" Sophia asks excitedly.

"Mhm. He'll come by after dinner tonight." Louis answers as he pulls up in front of their modest flat.

When they step inside through the door, Louis set up Sophia with a short movie for her to watch for about an hour so he can take a quick nap before he gets up to hang out with her. It is four thirty when Louis wakes up from the short nap, and helps Sophia work on her work sheet about reptiles given to her by the teacher. He shoots a quick text to Zayn checking to make sure he can watch Sophie for a few hours while he makes dinner. As the two of them play an intense game of chutes and ladders, an interrupting knock sounds at the door, and Louis steps away from the game to open it.

"Hey Lou, it's good to see you." Zayn greets, hazel eyes shining warmly.

As the younger man opens the door, a small gust of wind brings a chill inside; making Louis shiver and quickly welcome Zayn inside.

"It's good to see you too mate. Sorry you had to come and watch her again. I'm just really busy to be honest."

Zayn shrugs off his jacket as he says "Louis, it's no problem. You know I love watching my most favorite niece in the world. And besides, you've been wearing yourself thin; I mean you work two jobs, drop off and pick up Sophia from school, and take online classes for uni in some of your spare time, which isn't very much. You need to take a break at some point before you run out of steam."

"I'll take that into consideration mate, but I do have to go." Louis says, pulling on his jacket over his uniform.

"I love you baby and I'll see you later alright?" Louis says, bending down to hug Sophia tightly.

As soon as she tells him she loves him too, Louis opens the door to head to his second job of the day with Zayn's words still fresh in his mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are appreciated as always.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Unbeta'd at this point, sorry

It's a couple weeks later when Louis is hanging out with Liam and Zayn on one of his rare days off that the two of them really start nagging him about taking some time for himself.

The three friends sit in a booth at a local coffee shop, chatting when Louis begins to nod off, still holding his cup of steaming coffee.

Snapping his fingers in front of his friend's face, which dips closer and closer towards the table, Zayn says "Louis, wake up mate."

Startling, the youngest out of the three spills some of the hot coffee all over their hands.

"Fuck! Ow I'm awake." Louis grumbles suddenly wide eyed.

"It didn't seem like it a minute ago. Why are you so tired today?" Liam asks while Louis is busy wiping off his hands.

"I was up until three or so with stuff for class since Sophia was up late with a stomachache." Louis says before downing what was left of his drink.

"Okay, Lou, you know we love you very much, which is why we're concerned for your wellbeing. You haven't had a good nights sleep in forever, haven't done something for yourself in nearly the same amount of time, and haven't been out on a date in-how long's it been Louis?" Zayn asks looking genuinely concerned.

"Almost two years." Louis mumbles.

"See mate? We just want you to have some fun. You're running yourself ragged and you're only 20."

"Well, that happens when you have a child that you're raising by yourself." Louis answers defensively, casting his eyes down at the table.

He knows that his friends want what's best for him despite feeling like they're ganging up on him, but it feels like he doesn't have any time for that. What with working two jobs, taking online classes for uni, having enough time for his daughter and sleep, there just really isn't enough time for anything else.

"Louis we understand that. We're not ragging on you. Me or Liam can watch Sophia while you go and have some fun, take one day off-"

"And I have a great friend I can set you up with if you want." Liam interrupts gleefully.

Louis sighs. "If you guys insist on it this much then fine. Just do whatever. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go grab another very large, and very caffeinated coffee.

~o~

About a week after their talk, Liam lets Louis know that his friend agreed to the date and gives Louis his number. When they set up a date for Friday night, Louis calls Liam after he put Sophia to sleep to ask if he can watch her that night.

"Oh Louis, I can't. I have a class that I can't miss then. Otherwise you know I definitely would. I'm sorry." Liam apologizes.

Louis can almost perfectly picture the puppy dog look on his face and knows he means it.

"It's alright Liam, thanks anyway."

Next, Louis tries Zayn who tells him that he has to pick up the shift of someone who's grandmum died. Starting to feel a little frazzled, Louis calls his mum next who doesn't answer the phone when he calls twice.

Louis runs a hand through his hair, trying to think of a solution to this problem. He really wants to find someone to watch his daughter for a couple hours that night since he's begun to look forward to this date, but has better things to put money towards than a babysitter. Very close to texting James that he can't make it, Louis suddenly remembers Harry's phone number sitting crumpled up on his dresser. Sighing to himself because this is his absolute last resort, the man goes to his bedroom to text his ex.

"Harry, it's Louis. Can you watch Sophia on Friday night from 8 - 11 at the latest? I have a date I don't want to cancel on."

Less than a minute after sending the text, Louis' phone vibrates in his palm with Harry's response.

"Yeah sure! Just text me your address. See you then."

~o~

Friday night, Louis makes dinner for Sophia and sits down with her for a while to watch her favorite movie Monster's Inc. until he starts getting ready for his date. At seven thirty, there's a knock on the door and- wow James is early. Halfway dressed in a white button down and blue joggers, Louis goes to open the door, only to find Harry.

"Hi Louis. I hope I'm okay being a tad early."

"Yeah it's totally fine. Thank you for doing this on such short notice." Louis says as he shuts the door behind him.

Harry smiles. "No problem. It'll give me a chance to know my daughter better."

As soon as the words leave his mouth, Harry senses that he has said the wrong thing. Louis' expression changes from his almost welcoming look to immediate hostility. His jaw clenches with his cheeks flushing an angry red and his eyes narrowing.

Looking behind him to make sure Sophia couldn't overhear, Louis whispers angrily, "So she's your daughter now? You suddenly have a change of heart and she's your daughter now? The last time I checked, you weren't looking for a daughter. You were 'too young and not ready to be a father'. You weren't the one who was fifteen and felt so alone throughout the entire pregnancy, you weren't the one who was depressed after having her for some reason you couldn't pinpoint when you were surrounded by wonderful friends and family. You didn't change any diapers or wake up multiple times in the middle of the night to stop her from crying. You weren't there for her, or me, and you offered no support so you have not earned the right to call her your daughter."

"I'm sorry. You're absolutely right and it was insensitive of me to say that." Harry immediately apologizes.

Briefly surprised at his repentance Louis nods his head and says "Yeah. It was. I'm almost done getting ready so you can hang out with Sophia on the couch. She's already had dinner and has a bedtime of eight thirty so don't let her try to tell you otherwise."

With that, Louis turns on his heel without another word and walks off to his bedroom.

Harry is sitting with Sophia, getting to know her better when Louis emerges from his room in a button down and navy blue pants with a perfectly styled quiff.

"Sophia, daddy's gonna be gone for a couple hours, but I'm leaving you with your babysitter Harry okay?" Louis says, kneeling in front of the five year old and ignoring Harry's presence.

"Okay, have fun daddy."

Louis can't help but laugh.

"I'll try. I love you." Louis kisses her forehead and stands up to leave.

"Bye Sophie! And don't stay up late!"

Just before he shuts the door, he hears her high pitched voice say bye back.

~o~

When Louis comes back an hour early from his date, Harry is a little surprised. Immediately, the younger man flops down on the couch looking exhausted and deflated.

"Uh what's wrong Louis?" Harry asks cautiously, not wanting to upset him in any way.

Louis breathes a sad sigh. "I don't know why I'm telling you this, but my date was a failure. At first it was good. Like the conversation was steady, the food was good, the wine was great and I was thinking 'hey, I'm actually having a lot of fun.' But when James found out that I have a kid, he hightailed it out of there and left me to pay the bill which was more than I thought. And then I had to use the rest of my money to catch a cab since he gave me a ride. And here I am… with two bucks left in my wallet."

"How much was everything?" Harry asks.

"I don't really think that's any of your business Harry." Louis frowns, glancing at him from the corner of his eye.

"No, I mean that is awful and I want to repay you since that was what I assume to be emergency money."

"No Harry. I can't let you do that. It's fine."

"It is not Louis and I want to do something nice. Just tell me." Harry argues, feeling around for his wallet.

"I appreciate it, but no thank you. I'm not some charity case you can feel sorry for and give money to." Louis shakes his head, quickly replying.

"I don't think of you as a charity case at all. I just think what that guy did was fucked up. But sorry… again. Since you're home, I'm just gonna go ahead and head out. I would really like to talk about things and explain sometime too." Harry says standing.

"Maybe we can do that. Thanks again for watching her." Louis tells him, unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt.

Harry gives a terse nod as reply and leaves quietly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kudos and comments are appreciated please! <3


	21. Chapter 21

"So how was your date with that guy Liam set you up with?" Zayn asks Sunday morning while they're at the park with Sophia.

Watching his daughter play in the sandbox nearby, Louis says "It went terribly. He ran out on me when I told him about Sophie and I had to pay for the dinner and a cab ride home."

"Okay, so where does this guy live so I can go kick his arse?" Zayn says calmly with a frown, only partially kidding.

Louis can't help but laugh and leans his head on his best friend's shoulder.

"I don't know since he picked me up, but thanks anyway Z."

Wrapping a leather clad arm around his friend's shoulder, Zayn answers "No problem man, anything for you. And I might ask Liam later since at least might know. But, who'd you get to watch her anyways? Liam told me he couldn't do it either."

"Oh, uh Harry actually did it for me since my mum wasn't picking up the phone."

Zayn sits up straighter and looks at his friend in surprise.

"Harry. As in the Harry who got you pregnant in the first place and broke up with you for it Harry?"

Louis gnaws on his bottom lip as his raises his eyebrows and widens his eyes slightly in apology.

"Yeah. That's the one."

"Louis, come on. You have to know that this is a bad idea. I mean, me just hearing his name makes me mad - and he didn't even do anything to me. Does Sophia know that he's her dad?" Zayn asks incredulously.

"It's not a terrible idea at least. He seems to be sorry and would like to be involved in some sort of way. But I think I'm going to meet with him to hear him out. And I understand that, I still get pretty pissed when I see him because it just brings up old feelings, you know? And she doesn't know and I don't know if I'm going to tell her either. It depends on if he chooses to be present in her life from now on. Just try to be supportive and understanding please?"

"I will try, but I can't make any promises." Zayn replies, managing to muster up half a smile for Louis' sake.

"Thank you. Does this mean that you can watch her for an hour next Saturday morning then? Cause Harry texted me asking if we could meet up then, which is one of the few times that work for me. Please Zayn? I owe you one."

Zayn scoffs at Louis' expertly pulled pout and says, "You owe me many, but sure. It's no problem then."

Louis would like to respond, but doesn't have the chance when he sees Sophia dumps a bucket of sand on the head of a boy who kicked down her sandcastle.

~o~

Next Saturday morning, while Zayn watches Sophia, Louis walks to a coffee shop two blocks from his flat to meet Harry. Finding that he is a couple minutes early, the man decides to place an order at the counter for a blueberry muffin and a cup of coffee.

Louis sits down with his food at a table in the corner for privacy and waits. Just as he begins to nibble at the baked good, Harry walks through the door rosy cheeked with wild hair.

"Hi Louis, I know I look a bit of a mess, but I just didn't realize the time and I didn't want to be late to meet with you so I sort of jogged here." Harry pants, finger combing his hair back into a bun.

"You're fine. So, what exactly do you want to say to me?" Louis asks straight to the point.

Settling in, Harry starts "First, I want to apologize for my actions. I was younger and in my second year of uni and not ready to be a father, which does not excuse my behavior. I was blindsided and scared when you told me you were pregnant and I'm sorry that I broke up with you and didn't consider how you were feeling, considering it had to have been ten times worse. It wasn't long after I figured the baby was born, somewhere around September or so, that I wanted to talk to you and at least explain. But I tried calling you a few times and you didn't answer, which I would expect. And when I called one more time, your number was disconnected. I ended up figuring out that you had moved because I stopped by your house which had a for sale sign out front. So you don't think I'm a total arse hole, it's not like five years have passed without me giving you or Sophia any thought. I've had a lot of time to think about it and I would like to be involved in her life from now on if you'll let me of course. If not, as much as I would like to, I completely understand."

When Harry is finished, Louis sips at his coffee and tries to formulate an appropriate response to Harry's words.

"After hearing everything, I do accept your apology. I did move because we needed a bit more space, especially once me mum got pregnant with twins again. I think it'll be good for you to be present in Sophia's life from now on, which would also be a big help for me since I don't want to burden Liam or Zayn to watch her so often because I work two jobs and I'm doing school online. So you can hang out with her and get to know her better, and sometimes you and I can do things with her together like going to the aquarium or the park, stuff like that. And if you could refrain from letting her know that you're also her dad, that would be great considering she doesn't really know about you."

"What do you mean she doesn't know about me?" Harry questions with a frown.

"I mean she doesn't know much of anything about her dad. She knows that he has brown hair and green eyes just like her, and I may have told her that he turned out to not be such a nice guy because he didn't want to be around. Now that you're actually going to be around, I'll tell her about it when the time is right." Louis answers defense, absolutely ready to get into it with Harry if he's upset about that.

"Okay, I'll be sure to keep it under wraps. So, are we good here?" Harry asks, not just referring to the conversation they just finished up, but also to the bad blood between them; wondering if Louis has truly forgiven him for what he did.

"Yeah," Louis nods his head, "we're good."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please leave kudos and comments! Thanks guys!


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the replies on my question, I appreciate it!

It's a couple weeks later when Louis calls Harry, sounding stressed and tired. The sharp November chill is in the air and Sophia clutches his gloved hand in hers tightly as they walk to the car from her school. After she is buckled into her car seat, and the heat is blowing on full blast, Louis makes a quick call to Harry on the way home with his phone pressed tight against his ear.

"Hey Louis, what's going on?" Harry asks cheerfully on his end of the line.

"Hi. I was supposed to have the night off tonight, but my boss requested I come in for inventory and other stuff so I was wondering if you could babysit? I know it's sudden, but you want to be involved and Sophie adores you. I just-" Louis is getting worked up all over again when Harry cuts him off.

"Louis, relax. I'll watch Sophia; it's no problem. Can you bring her over to mine though? I have some stuff I have to work on here. I can text you the address."

"That's not a problem, thanks dude. We'll see you in a few." With that, Louis hangs up feeling a tad more at ease.

~o~

As soon as Louis arrives at Harry's two story house, Sophia can't help but look around in wonder.

"Wow. It's so big. It's like a castle." Sophia says staring with her head tilted towards the ceiling in awe. The house was only slightly above average, but of course seemed much larger to the five year old. As she wanders, Sophia clutches her favorite sky blue bunny rabbit loosely in her fist, unknowingly letting it drag along the hardwood floor, Louis and Harry both keeping an eye on her.

Smiling at his daughter's behavior, Louis says with one hand on the door, "Thanks Harry and I'll see you in a few hours."

"Sounds good Louis. And I'll take good care of her." Harry respond, unable to help smiling back.

When Louis is finally done with work, he lets himself into Harry's home after he responded to Louis' text, letting him know that the door is open.

Walking into the living room quietly, Louis sees Sophia sitting in Harry's lap with the television emitting a soft glow in the background. Her head has lolled on his shoulder and her blue rabbit is on the cushion next to her.

"Is she asleep?" Louis whispers to be sure.

Harry smiles. "Yeah. She asked me to French braid her hair and she was sitting on my lap and saw a show about animals saving the day she liked. And a little bit after I finished, she got tired and made herself comfortable here and fell asleep. I didn't have it in me to move her."

Louis laughs softly, eyes crinkling in the corners with mirth before he crouches down to gingerly pick Sophia up. She stirs for a brief moment before she sighs, too tired to really wake up. Without making much noise, Harry grabs the bag Louis packed Sophia and hands it to the younger man.

"Thanks so much Harry. Having you around is pretty helpful so I'll let you know when you can babysit again. Bye." Before he shuts the door, Harry notices that this is the first real time that Louis has been completely trusting of him and that there's no animosity between them.

~o~

The more that Louis calls on Harry to babysit, the more the older man gets used to settling into Sophia's life. As the two of them spend more time together, and sometimes with Louis if time allows for it, the more attached Sophia becomes to him. Harry is quite happy about that because it means he's doing something with this parenting thing right and that his daughter likes him.

It's when Harry offers her crayons and pages to color and she pushes the one with the mommy and daddy birds playing with the baby ones far away that he figures something is wrong.

"Hey Sophie, how come you didn't like that one?" Harry asks while she makes her choice between pictures, her tiny tongue darting between her lips.

"Cause." The five year old says simply.

Trying to get her to open up, Harry leaves it be for a few moments at he grabs a red crayon from the box for his flower picture.

"Do you want to tell me more than cause Sophia?"

She's silent and Harry thinks that she's going to stay mum until she says, "Everyone, even birds have mums and dads but I don't. And my daddy won't tell me nothing about my other daddy and it's not fair." Sophia pouts, beginning to color in her snake with rainbow scales.

Harry frowns in response to her remark, asking "Have you told your daddy about that? He might understand."

Sophia looks up from the paper, green eyes staring into green as she tells Harry "No. I don't wanna tell him. I don't wanna make him sad cause I love him… but I sorta wish I had two. You can't say anything, okay?"

Harry nods his head, answering "Okie dokie Sophie," hoping to get her to crack a smile. Thankfully she does.

After Louis puts Sophia to bed hours later and Harry is on his way out, he wants to bring up Sophia's issue with Louis.

"Louis, I really think you should talk to Sophia about me being her dad. She seemed a little unhappy with the prospect of having one parent and we've gotten along quite well…"

"I don't know Harry, you've only been around her for a month and a half. And even though you're a great help, this is a big change for her and I. I'm gonna need to think about it cause I'm tired, okay?" Louis asks with a sigh, looking aged years older than twenty.

His hair is unbelievably ruffled and he has dark bags under his eyes as if he hasn't had a good nights sleep in days. While he talked with Harry, his eyes remained half lidded as though he could drop off to sleep at any moment. Suddenly, Harry feels incredibly bad for keeping him and nods his head eagerly.

"Yeah, no problem Lou. G'night." Without waiting for a response, Harry smiles warmly at Louis and shuts the door softly behind him, leaving the flat with just him and Sophia, the way it seems Louis wants it to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 23 is mostly finished. When it's done I'll upload it and that's the last one that's currently written so idk how updates will be after that.
> 
> As always, please leave kudos and comments! <3


End file.
